White Tinted Black
by ALaViola
Summary: Detective Lucy Heartfilia and Natsu Dragneel are paired together to solve a crime as a series of bombings leads to a terrifying case but when the killer begins to target Lucy's life, Natsu decides he is responsible for her safety. "I am perfectly capable of protecting myself!""That may be true but then who will protect you from yourself?" Whoever said love can't develop from crime?
1. Prologue

**Hey guys,**

 **so this was the second most wanted**

 **story on the poll I made**

 **a few months back and so**

 **here it is.**

 **Also It has officially been one whole year since I joined**

 **And so I decided to post this in celebration.**

 **As a warning this won't be updated for a few months or maybe**

 **Earlier if 'Lost in the Lie' comes to an end sooner than expected**

 **But I just thought this would be nice for those of you who wanted.**

 **The cover image was made by me!**

 ** _Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters_**

 **So hopefully you guys will enjoy this story!**

 **Enjoy**

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 ** _'Run, run, run, for your life. Lock your door and stay inside-'_**

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 **Prologue**

 **~QOoOQ~**

"Little girl spinning 'round and 'round~"

 _ **A**_ _smile adorned her soft, plump features. Her blonde hair being stroked by the owner of the voice softly singing._ _Mama._ _The sound of soft piano keys enveloped the two figures, a gentle breeze caressing flushed cheeks. Her brown eyes hidden safely behind her closed eyelids. She wanted to spin around like the little girl but she was so, so tired. Too tired._

 _A big crack interrupted the soft piano notes. She flinched, her pretty face turned into a grimace. Too loud._ _Thunder is bad, something scary always happens_ _. A brief image of a completely dark and unprotected home flashed through her drowsy mind. The blankets covering her quivering body were tugged gently up to her chin. That's right, her Mama was here._

 _Mama would protect her._

"Now she's falling down, down, down~"

 _Her mother's voice became more distant._ _No!_ _Stay awake until the end of the song_ _._ _She struggled against the darkness trying to consume her, even the loud, booming of the thunder seemed much less terrifying. Maybe sleep would be good? The darkness would protect her, keep her sheltered from anything bad and her Mama would be there too._

 _The little girl's small hands gripped her blanket tightly, pulling them up over her head. Her blanket provided darkness too and although she could not see her, her Mama was there singing her a calming lullaby. Her full lips parted slightly as her breathing faltered to a deep, steady pace._

 _The darkness was coming._

"She wants to go flying up, up, up~"

 _ **…**_

 _ **B**_ _rown eyes flew open in alarm._ _It was just the thunder_ _, she reminded herself. The little girl rolled to her side and stared out her open window. Had her mother forgotten about the rain? Her eyebrows scrunched together in thought, her blanket slipping down to her small waist when she sat up. Innocence swarmed her thoughts, of course her Mama was tired-that's why she forgot._

 _"It's okay Lucy," she told herself quietly. Her little fingers wrapped tightly around her teddy bears leg. "Mama said to be brave." Show would be. Just like her Mama, strong, kind and brave. The little girl could not hold back her smile at that, being just like her Mama-that was something only Lucy herself had dreamt of. Hesitant and slow steps were taken toward the open window, the breeze coming through it sending chilling whispers in her ear._

 _She was almost there. Thunder rumbled louder, her quivering form flinching at the force behind the noise. Sudden doubt filled her, what if she couldn't do it? Would she ever be brave? She could just go back to the darkness-_ _No!_ _Lucy couldn't just run away, she needed to do this-she could tell her Mama about it. She could already imagine the proud smile her Mama would have after she told her._

 _Another crack of thunder._

 _A jolt was sent through her but she used her terror to fuel her determination and sprinted toward the opened window. The cold floor creaked noisily beneath her. Lucy could feel dampness beneath her small feet, she better be careful or she could fall._

"Now she's falling down, down, down~"

 _She leapt onto the window ledge and reached up with shaking arms, her fingers just barely able to curl around the edge of the window. Pull! She yanked on the window with weak arms and grit her teeth. Another 'bang'. Thunder? No-this was different, too close. She glanced toward her door that was left slightly ajar. Did her Mama fall?_

 _She abandoned the window and raced toward the door. Maybe she could kiss her Mama's sore better, it always worked for her. The door creaked quietly as she stepped through it, she could hear muttering but who was it? That was not her Mama. Maybe a friend came over? Why at this time then? Her Mama was always in bed when she slept._

 _Her feet tapped lightly against the floor, her fist rubbing repeatedly at her eye-she was so tired. The darkness- no, Mama. She was so tired. The darkness seemed so tempting, she wanted to but without her Mama then the darkness was so lonely. Lucy could see lights on in the kitchen, maybe her Mama was hungry? Her brown eyes flashed with life, her Mama could be cooking cookies again. She did get scolded plenty for attempting to reach the extra cookies left in the cookie jar. Her Mama would always say,_ _too many cookies are not good for a little girls tummy_ _. They tasted so good._

 _Lucy peered through the door and immediately flicked her brown eyes roamed over toward the stove. Strange. Her Mama was not standing there, but the cookies-she could smell them. Her head turned right, a quiet gasp escaping her parted lips. The floor was covered in red. Why was it so red? She stepped closer to the oozing substance and poked her finger in it, grimacing at the thick feeling coating it._

 _It smelled._

 _She chose to walk around the grotesque smelling liquid and continued to search for her Mama. The liquid swirled slightly toward the living room, should she follow it? Lucy wondered, she didn't like whatever was on the floor so why should she follow it? Curiosity. Mama always said she got that from her; it was a good thing in her mind._

 _Stepping into the dimly lit living room she found herself squinty against the darkness, straining her eyes to make out anything. She walked further, the sound of thunder crackling in the background while the wood flooring creaked beneath her weight. "Mama?" Lightning lit the room quickly; there was someone on the floor. Mama!_

 _Lucy ran blindly towards the familiar figure on the ground. Why would her Mama be on the ground? Of course! Her Mama was tired, she must have fallen asleep while waiting for the cookies to bake. "Mama?" No answer. She prodded the exposed flesh on her Mama's face, "Mama?" Lucy called again. She huffed and pushed on the elder woman's shoulder, rolling her over._

"Little girl spinning 'round and 'round~"

 _Her face contorted in shock. Her innocent and wide brown eyes filled with terror. The hand not wrapped around her bear flew to her mouth in shock. Red. There was Red everywhere. What? Her breathing turned labored what? She didn't understand! How-? A shaky step backward caused her to slip and land on her rear._

 _Blood. It was blood!_

 _Oh_ _Mavis_ _the blood._

 _Her mother was doused in the crimson liquid, her eyes wide open in shock, blood dripping down her face. There was a gaping hole on her Mama's exposed stomach. Her stomach turned at the sight of bone peeking out through the hole. A scream erupted from her, she felt sick. Her body shook with tremors, her knees pulled up to her chest as she rocked back and forth. Was her Mama…?_

 _No. She refused the idea of her Mama possibly dying. She was too strong. This was all just a nightmare. A vividly horrific bad dream that she would soon awaken from. Back and forth, back and forth. A clap of thunder sounded but she didn't so much as flinch. Her eyes travelled to the crimson liquid staining her Mama's pale skin. So much Blood. Blood._

 _Oh_ _Mavis_ _the blood._

 _Lightning lit up her surroundings, making the sudden presences of a tall, masculine figure known. His dark eyes staring sinisterly at her mother. His lips spread into a maniacal grin. Faintly, she could see blood splashed on his cheek, scratch marks openly displayed for her eyes only. His body was cloaked by the surrounding darkness, unwilling to give her a proper look at her mother's killer._

 _No! She was not dead!_

 _The man chuckled, "I see you do not understand." He sounded so sure, she shivered, why wouldn't she wake up? "It's all a game you see," he strode toward the gaping window, "do you know what freeze tag is little girl?" She nodded jerkily. "That is the game. I am 'it' and you are not, if I catch you-this," he held up a stained blade. Blood. "Will be what freezes you. You will not be able to move, it only hurts a little." He smiled, "Do you know why I play this game?"_

 _No. She didn't. Lucy didn't want to know how this man thought, why? Why, Oh Mavis all the blood. "Because," he told her, "the stars-they were pleading. The stars cannot be the only ones to disappear can they? That's why we're playing Freeze and Die." He moved slowly toward her. Teasing her with that crazy grin. He stopped in front of her, his face bending down toward hers despite his height advantage. "…Run!"_

 _It was only one word. Something so simple that she had done daily in her life. Although Lucy had never been more terrified in her life as she ran for her life while he laughed at her, enjoying his game of Freeze tag. Tears poured down her face, how had her Mama been caught? Her Mama was so fast and she always won when she and Lucy played Hide and Seek so how…?_

 _She shook her Mama from her thoughts. Her lungs burned, her fear clawing at her lungs as she used her legs to carry her as fast as they could. His cenacle laugh reached her ears, "Where are you little dead body? Come on out to play-" she huffed and threw open the door to her basement. Mavis she hated it but she had to play the game. She was a child, surely she could play the game better than an adult could. "-with my blade."_

 _A startled scream left her mouth at the sound of his voice. He was close now. Too close. Lucy shrieked as she went tumbling down the stairs._

 _"_ Now she's falling down, down, down~"

 _Black dots littered her vision. Darkness. It could take care of her right? Adrenaline pumped through her veins, her senses on high alert. Lucy muffled a cry, she could feel him staring at her, his leisurely footsteps sounding louder by the second. She stood. Pain shot up her leg and once again she fell, her ankle it hurt so much!_

 _Ignore it._

 _She stood herself up again and limped away desperately. He was close again; Right behind her-she could hear him breathing. Her heart leapt in her throat. Why won't the nightmare end? "What point is there in hiding little body?" Mavis he was twisted. "The Zodiac will find you." No. She couldn't let that happen._

 _Slipping through the tiny space between large boxes she clenched her fist. She pleaded for him not to find her, anything but that-nightmares felt so_ _real._ _Had she not of been asleep Lucy would have believed this was reality. His footsteps grew louder, he was coming closer. She quieted her breathing, taking slow breaths through her mouth. Stay still. Stay quiet. Show no weakness._

 _Seconds. Minutes passed, she felt like she had been hiding for hours. How had no one noticed something was wrong by now? His footsteps were faint by now. Was he gone? Relief spread through her, he was gone. Perhaps she could climb through the window in the basement to escape. Mama would get help._

 _Blood._

 _No!_

 _Standing still another moment she listened. Nothing. She sighed and slipped back out into the open, she would be safe for now. Lucy stilled, why had he gone back upstairs? There was no noise other than the roaring thunder as far as she was concerned. Why would he go back? Her eyes widened. Mama!_

 _She abruptly turned around. "I found you little dead body~" Lucy stiffened, her heart sped drastically and she screamed as his large hand pushed her to the cold, cement floor. Her mind went hazy, blurry vision-she couldn't see. A whimper came from her mouth as she felt the front of his body press against her back. He caught her. The game was over. No! Fight him!_

 _Lucy screamed loudly and kicked him as much as she could. She would struggle and fight against him until the darkness decided to give her a break and keep her safe. She heard a low grunt of pain as she kicked him. She had got him; she rolled to her stomach and screamed-hitting him anywhere she could._

 _He growled at her. Her arms were pinned but her legs were not. A sudden excruciating pain blast through her middle. Mavis it hurt to breath. Lucy looked through tear-filled eyes, the shine of the blade, the crimson color of blood. He had stabbed her. He flipped her over, the floor pressing mercilessly against her wounded stomach. She felt his breath on her neck. "You're a fighter little dead body."_

 _Her shirt rode up, his grotesque fingers trailing over the curve of her back. "A fighter deserves a strong symbol." White hot pain erupted on her back once the blade pierced her skin. The sound of her flesh ripping made her stomach turn. She screamed .The pain-it was real, this was no nightmare. She was living a cruel reality. Black dots were started to fill her vision, dark crimson dripping from underneath and above her._

 _Oh Mavis there was so much blood._

 _Darkness. The pain was fading fast and it was getting hard to think straight. As Lucy's head dropped to the hard floor a single tear fell down her face, the cackling of her assailant the only thing left her senses could pick up. Yes, the darkness had finally saved her. She welcomed it. The pain was no longer there. She could rest now. The darkness could protect her while her mother could not._

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 ** _~QOoOQ~_**

 _Her body trembled. The scar on her back burning like fire-again she had the nightmare. She would never be used to it despite the years that passed. The sight of her mother drenched in blood, eyes wide with horror. The sadistic psychopath, slowly walking to her; blade in hand. The sound of the knife ripping at her tender flesh. She grit her teeth and pounded her fist into the counter._

 _Don't._

 _Don't think about it._

 _Lucy splashed water onto her red face. Her brown eyes caught her reflection in the mirror, "how long had it been? Seven-no, eight years? Mavis it had been too long. She jolted at the sound of a loud bang. Was it him!? Her head whipped around, her clenched fist raised threateningly. "Lucy!" She sighed, no-why would he be there? He had disappeared-besides, he shouldn't know that she lived, right?_

 _She blinked at her brothers, tilting her head to the side. They seemed worried. Her gaze flicked behind them. No father-of course, he was too busy. Why were they here? It was late? Lucy's eyes locked with her eldest brothers, "Laxus? Why are you holding a bat?" She turned to her other brother, "and Erik where are your clothes!?"_

 _"We heard you scream!" Oh yes, she probably had. Watching blood pour down the crown of your mothers head would make anyone cry out. She trembled, her stomach turning queasy. Stop! They shouldn't have to hear it. It would be easier if she bared this burden alone. Lucy looked at the dark sky out her window, they should go back to sleep. Darkness would protect them at least._

 _Although it would torture her._

 _"Lucy?" She heard Erik call. "What's wrong?" They were concerned. Laxus' mother wouldn't want them to know nor would their Father. It was too gruesome a sight, too animalistic for either brother to hear come out of their baby sister's mouth. They wouldn't know. They shouldn't. The crimson blood. Oh Mavis the blood._

 _"What's that?" She turned her eyes toward the mirror where Laxus had pointed. There she saw a reflection of the scar across her back, exposed enough for both boys to see the reminder of her trauma .The sign of Leo the Lion carved into her back with the sharp tip of a knife. The tears spilt over, shocking her brothers. They hadn't seen her cry before. Only witnessing her blank and traumatic stare. She slid to the ground. They could see it. Her_ _failure_ _. She should have died like her Mama._

 _Her lip trembled as they hastily pulled her into a warm hugging. Whispering soothing words. Could she trust them? They were family right? She trusted her mother not to leave and she left? Could she do it again? No._ _Keep them out. You will hurt them_ _. She couldn't. Her lips moved without permission, retelling the tale of her horror story experience. She closed her eyes, leaning into her brothers comforting embrace._

 _Crimson red._

 _Blood._

 _Oh Mavis the blood._

 _Her hands were not just dirty from allowing a psychopath to get the best of her. They were bloodied from her every thought of revenge. She would get him, before he could kill her first._

"Little girl spinning 'round and 'round~"

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 ** _'-Save Yourself if you can, because your God has a heavy hand.'_**

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 **Shattered-Nightmares712: Hey guys, so that's it, hopefully you found this interesting so far but if not then sorry cuz were just getting into everything before chapter one so yeah. As I said in the above comments it's been one year since I joined and I posted this to celebrate but it will take a long time for me to update this story so be patient with me! Also the song Lucy's mother sung I just made that up so sorry if it's not the best! _The song before and after the chapter is called 'Savages' by Theory of a Deadman_. Let me know what you guys thought and leave a review!** **  
 **Thanks for reading!**  
 **Love ya!****

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	2. Chapter 1: Dispatch

**And I am finally back**

 **with Chapter 1**

 **of 'White Tinted Black'!**

 **I'm happy you guys are enjoying my story enough to bear**

 **Reading another chapter of it!**

 **Sorry I know things are slow but**

 **They will be picking up later on so for now**

 **Just keep waiting for it!**

 **Just as a reminder Lucy is OOC in this story**

 **so hopefully you are aware of her personality change in this.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Enjoy**

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 _ **'Blood red sky overhead-'**_

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 **Chapter 1: Dispatch**

 **~QOoOQ~**

 _ ***Bang! Bang! Bang!***_

 _"Lucy!"_ Spinning on her heels in one quick reflex she pointed the dangerous weapon at the intruder that dare interrupt her concentration-who happened to be a tall, muscular, tanned male that she knew quite well. He raised his hands in a way to signal his surrender as he spoke, "Mavis Lucy! I've only been here a minute and you're already pointing a gun at my head! I thought I was your big _Onii-Chan~_ " He smirked as the young blonde just glared and lowered her gun as she began her target practice again.

"Maybe you shouldn't sneak up on someone with a gun in their hand _Onii-Chan_ ~" Erik crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his nineteen year old sister, it had been four years since she had broken down and finally told them everything about that night. He was still shocked on how Lucy could still be so bright and lively but yet she never stopped being the Lucy he had always known, she had gone rather 'independent' the longer she stayed in the mansion with him, Laxus and their father but she still devoted herself to her studies.

He had successfully become a crime lab analyst for the forensics department, analyzing the bodies and blood of victims and even criminals and he loved every moment of his work, although he dreaded the moment murdered children were wheeled into the lab but, it was his job and he had to deal with it. Laxus, obviously, had been the first one of the three of them to join the force and become a detective; occasionally he would bring Erik and Lucy on jobs with them since they were already training to do things such as that.

Although things had changed drastically, after becoming a detective, Lucy had immediately begun her research on the murder case of her mother from all those years ago and even if he supported her fully-he couldn't help but feel anxious at the growing coldness radiating off the blonde. There were certain things young woman and men such as the blonde herself, should not be shown, but Lucy was determined to find the murderer that caused her mother's life to come to a quick stop. Sighing he shook his head and placed his hand on his sister's shoulder,

"Jude wants to speak with you," he felt her flinch under his touch-his words reaching her covered ears as she slowly tore off her ear plugs and stared him in the eye, Erik shrugged his shoulders dismissively-he had no clue as to what their father wanted to speak to Lucy about and his forever stoic face didn't give a single piece of information away. She sighed and nodded before putting her gun back in its holster,

"Alright, I'll go." Running hand roughly through her hair she nodded to her adoptive brother before walking out of the room.

 _ **...**_

Lucy had no clue as to why she was being summoned by her father nor did she feel the need to know why but she knew that she was about to find out soon-something she dreaded to hear, a bitter look crossed her face at the thought of speaking to her father. The blonde had always been what other police officers called 'a freelance detective'; she never called for help unless she had already caught the perp, did everything by herself with some assistance from her friends from the forensics department but otherwise she was her own team.

She never really did follow the rules or protocols set out for detectives, one of which was to dress appropriately- it was one of the first things she made sure to ignore, she may have been nineteen(soon to be twenty) but her knowledge was on par with her father's at the age of 40. For the amount of time she had spent working there at the M.P.D (Magnolia Police Department) she had been given a name for herself created by her neighboring detectives, they called her the 'Tainted Detective' the reason being that she was as cold as eyes from something unbeknownst to them but she was one of the top detectives themselves and so hearing how cheerful the girl was said to be by her brothers-contrary to her stoic façade at the department- they added in the tainted, she was a bright soul tainted by hate.

It was unknown to Lucy as to why they never dropped the ridiculous name but she preferred that over the last name her father held any day, she despised being forced into the same 'high society' category her father insisted on her joining, none of that was for her-she had a life as a freelance detective taking dangerous jobs that the unit groups could not complete and tied up the loose ends they left. She sighed and nodded briefly at a passing forensics specialist, she found an odd feeling of respect for the forensics analyst that worked for the police or formerly had, the majority of the criminals they found were due to the scientists over crime scenes and evidence pieces they received and or found, sometimes even finding errors or missed evidence in a crime scene or in a report they received.

Glancing at her watch, Lucy silently cursed- Jude had always wanted her to be at his office within ten minutes of him summoning her, as much as she dreaded to speed up her time without having to meet with him, the blonde detective knew it was unavoidable. Her legs picked up the pace and in a matter of minutes, she was standing in front of the large doors leading to her father's office-although Jude Heartfilia himself would not be present, unless counting him being on an abnormally large monitor screen where he was contacted by a program made by a resident hacker who worked as a detective in M.P.D.

She guessed being his daughter had its perks at times, whenever she had done something that was frowned upon in the M.P.D- she would usually get away with a light punishment but even then it was a minor advantage. Rubbing her temples soothingly, feeling a headache coming toward her and thinking that it was only the morning and she had yet to speak to her father made the dull throb sharpen. Lucy knocked quietly on the large doors leading to Jude's office, she was sure she would be berated for her tardiness-which had been by a minute- but at the moment, she could care less.

"Enter…" Taking a deep breath, Lucy pushed open the double doors welcomed by the warm air circulating around her father's office and already the blonde felt suffocated. The door clicked close behind her as she took sure steps toward her father's desk where his laptop was rested upon, his video feed almost mistaken for a picture for how still he was sitting although the subtle twitch of Jude's eye indicated his visibility. Quiet ticks of the clock ticked by every passing second, each being immensely uncomfortable for the young blonde as her father scrutinized her, sizing her up and even through the screen Lucy could feel his disappointment. "Lucy, I see you still refuse to wear proper clothing as a detective..."

She snorted, "And I see you are still _much_ too busy working a _'case'_ when you should be here dealing with problems directly." She smirked, enjoying her father's irritated scowl as he clenched his clasped hands tighter until his knuckles turned white. "What is it that you need Jude- _Sama_?" Lucy watched as he leaned back in his chair and stared her dead in the eye,

"This decision is not to be made by you but me; you will be moved to Unit 1 and join your brother with his co-workers," confusion hit the youngest Heartfilia hard, her father never wanted her to pursue this career and yet he was forcing her to join a unit, the _hooligans_ unit no less, with her eldest brother and solve dangerous cases, more so than the ones she already deals with.

"I have already told you this Father," she sighed and stared at the thin line his lips formed, "I only work alone-putting me in the hooligans unit will not prove beneficial to me nor am I willing to work with one of them other than Laxus." Even the thought of working with some foolish detective that joked around while on the job made her grimace in distaste, a unit that handles disastrous cases that could possibly lead to the end of the city or perhaps the country even-would goof around with their co-workers despite the seriousness of the situation. "I refuse."

"My decision is final!" Jude slammed his fists on his desk behind the computer screen and stared at his daughter angrily, "I have already allowed you to stay in this business despite my wishes so you will join a Unit-besides have I not informed you already that a detective working alone is prohibited?"

"I recall telling you that I don't care," she couldn't trust anyone in the department other than her brother but even then she refused to take a case with them, she needed to do things on her own for reasons that they didn't need to know.

"Lucy," he sighed and rubbed his temples-no doubt feeling a minor migraine coming forth as the blonde stared at him, "either join First Unit or be stripped of your position and never work as a detective again." She huffed at his threat, it was funny how he was controlling her life even when she escaped him-apparently she has yet to fully get away from him. "You may leave…" Saluting-sported with her middle finger sticking out- Lucy walked out of her father's office with a frustrated slam of the door.

She couldn't believe her own father would place her in the misfit unit, she wondered how they even managed to get a position in first Unit with a reputation as such-wouldn't her father have immediately disposed of the problem? Despite her eldest brother being in it, Lucy had no desire to join and feel 'safe' under her co-workers protection, although it was all false-all of it was just fake comfort, they were never really protected from danger and the blonde wondered whether they realized this or simply ignored it.

Brown eyes roamed on the few doors in the hallway, searching for the unit number she was now a member of-her thoughts wondered to her brother, he had never been tolerant of trouble makers and yet-she found this ironic- her brother had joined the one unit that held the title of 'hooligans' _willingly_. She thought nothing less of her brother after he joined first unit, he was still the same, strong, caring, stoic brother in her eyes and she loved him and Erik more than anything, which was a reason why she refused to work with them.

She kept her distance when she could from her brothers at work for not only her own personal reasons but also for the fact that whenever she had gone on a case with Laxus and Erik when she was still not able to join as a legal detective-they had been overly protective and obsessive. Lucy could still remember one time she was brought on a case with her brothers that involved a series of sexual assaults followed by the woman's murder and although she could understand their worry, they still could have let go of her hand while she was observing.

The sound of her boots quietly hitting the floor stopped as she stared at the dreaded door where several shouts were heard from behind it, silently, Lucy wondered if she was ever going to be able to concentrate with her new co-workers busy bodies moving around, unconcerned with their noise level. She sighed and placed a slender hand over the cool doorknob and with a shake of her head; Lucy pushed open the door to her new Unit.

 _"I have solved way more cases then you, stripper!"_

 _"Yeah? And what proof do you have of that pyro!?"_

 _"Go ask Gildarts!"_

 _"That doesn't make you any better! You've been here longer than I have!"_

 _"Yeah but at least I never got arrested for sexual harassment!"_

 _"Just because I took my shirt off in front of someone doesn't mean I was sexually harassing them Flame Brain!"_

 _"Ice Princess!"_

 _"Tabasco Freak!"_

Lucy stared at the two arguing men in front of her with a raised brow, now she knew how they had gotten their reputation although she had yet to know the full extent of their rowdiness. Clearing her throat to make her presence known Lucy allowed her eyes to wander over to the scarlet haired woman who immediately put a stop to the rambunctious men's argument upon noticing her. Brown eyes met lighter colored ones; both holding sharpness and lack of trust within them, "Is there something you need?" The woman's voice- Lucy noticed- is orotund,

"I need to speak with the head of the Unit, Mr. Clive," she glanced over the woman's shoulder to see a elder man sitting at a desk with a smoke hanging loosely of his bottom lip, "I assume he is the one smoking?" Clearly the other two eccentric fools were too young and too idiotic to be the head of First Unit and Lucy doubted the female standing in front of her with crossed arms was in fact male.

"What do ya' need with Gildarts?" Lucy glanced over at the raven haired male who had spoken to her in a deep voice, his hair was an unruly mess-she guessed he hadn't seen a brush in years- his button up dress shirt was half way done up with a silver chained cross draped around his neck, his black dress pants were neatly ironed to accompany the nice shoes he was wearing. Raising a brow at him, she crossed her arms over her chest much like her scarlet haired acquaintance who was eyeing her at the moment,

"That is between Mr. Clive and I," sighing to herself, she walked past the two and up to her new boss, Gildarts Clive; who looked at her with half lidded eyes as if he had just woken up. The blondes comfort dropped more when the male eyed her up and down before setting his cigarette between his fingers and giving her a flirtatious grin.

"What can I do for you sweetheart?" She blinked. Repulsion was the only thing she could feel at that moment, here she was-a nineteen year old woman (soon to be twenty) being eyed up by a forty something year old man, who seemed too experienced with women for her comfort.

"I was assigned to this Unit," his brown-almost orange- colored hair was slicked back against his head, the ends just barely brushing against the collar of his jacket; his head tilted slightly at her declaration, "I'm Detective Lucy A-"

"-Heartfilia…" a voice the blonde knew all too well interrupted her from behind as she smiled grimly at Gildarts, balling her hands into fists as she hissed,

"Ashley. Detective Lucy Ashley," she turned around to come face-to-face with the hard chest that belonged to her eldest brother, who was smirking smugly down at her as he placed his large hand on top of her head, "Laxus, I'm not a child you know."

"Still are to me Blondie." His smile widened when he saw her silently fuming, she knew he was teasing her to get her to loosen up slightly but his strategy needed some improvement.

"You may be an adult in age and height compared to me but intellect…" she trailed off, giving him a triumphant smirk as his face turned stoic and clicked his tongue at her before turning away and glancing at the forgotten male behind Lucy. Gildarts glanced between the two, his cigarette hanging dangerously on his lower lip as they parted slightly in shock,

"Wait you're…?"

"No I am not." She interrupted hastily, denying his thoughts flatly so as not to allow him to announce it, "I go by Ashley." He nodded his head and gestured for her to stand beside him as he turned toward the rambunctious adults,

"Oi! Natsu, Gray shut up!" Fists paused mid-punch as their heads turned toward their boss-Lucy had to roll her eyes, they looked like deer in headlights, it was rather foolish to see grown men in such a compromising position while still looking clueless. "We have a new member joining our Unit, her names Lucy Ashley-she's Laxus' little sister. Introduce yourselves!" All three of the detectives she had met prior to this moment, walked toward them before smiling.

"Gray Fullbuster, nice to meet ya' Lucy." The male she had been questioned by earlier was the first to introduce himself as he scratched the back of his neck, glancing at the woman next to him as he did so. The blonde huffed, she couldn't possibly see why he was so nervous around the other woman-she looked like she was unable to harm a fly.

"Erza Scarlet; I am sorry for my ignorance earlier Lucy, forgive me." Erza bowed, her red hair shielding her face from view as she kept her hands on her thighs so her skirt did not ride up-something Lucy nodded at. Her lip twitched slightly, she was glad someone in this room knew how to be polite-she doubted the other men within the room knew how to be poised and well-mannered. Perhaps she was the only normal detective in this group of misfits.

"Erza," a quiet voice spoke from the far corner of the room, "your cake is ready…" Immediately the scarlet haired woman was standing straight once again- the apologetic look on her face replaced by one of pure-joy, had she not been there the moment the man spoke, Lucy would have assumed that the brown eyed woman had just been proposed to. She gave the blue haired man a curious glance,

"Mystogan Fernandez." She nodded to him before a male with pink hair stepped into her view. Another thing she questioned about the sanity of the people within the unit, it was not unheard of men sometimes dying their hair pink although she had never seen a detective with such a style. He wore a similar pair of black dress pants as Gray, a fiery red dress shirt and a black suit jacket overtop, the blonde had to admit that the men in this Unit-excluding her brother- were all extremely attractive. He grinned down at her,

"Names Natsu Dragneel," she noticed he had sharp canines, resembling a wolfs-it was an odd sight, but with everything her brown eyes had seen that day, it didn't surprise her like it should, "nice to meet 'ya Lucy." She nodded her head in response and turned to give her brother a look, anytime he had described his Unit, Laxus had shrugged and said they were insanely talented-she didn't doubt her brother but she did doubt how perceptive and attentive some of them were. He shook his head and smirked down at her before patting her head and leaving. "So how long have you been a detective for?"

Lucy glanced at the pinkette, she wondered why he hadn't asked her about her father already-usually that was what happened whenever they found out she was Laxus' or Erik's sister. "A year," she still hadn't been a detective for all that long but she felt she was doing well for her being in her first year of being a detective.

"Oh, so you haven't been here that long? Neither have I," he told her as he watched Gray joke around with Erza and Mystogan. "Only been here for two years myself." Natsu turned his head toward her and tilted it slightly, reminding Lucy of a puppy, "how old are you now Luce?"

"Luce?"

"Yeah it's my nickname for you…"

Shaking her head slightly at his friendly attitude she sighed, she wasn't going to answer his question-Gildarts already had a file on her no doubt so there was no need to inform the rest of them. "None of your business." Curiosity flickered in his eyes,

"Why are you old?"

"No."

"They why not answer?"

"Why is your hair pink?"

 _"It's Salmon!"_

"For the love of-" she heard her brother grumble under his breath and shot him a warning look, although he clearly ignored it-not seeing the point of hiding her age from her new co-workers, after all Laxus always said that they were like a 'family'. From her experience, that meant leaving someone behind. "She's nineteen Natsu."

"Wha-?" His eyes widened, most likely in disbelief-after all it was not often someone as you as Lucy worked as a detective, although she had yet to hear of another prodigy in the M.P.D. Gray sauntered up to them and casually draped his arm around her shoulder and laughed at the pinkette's dumfounded expression,

"So you're not the only prodigy we have here now…" Glancing at Lucy's raised brow he explained, "Flame-Ass here was accepted in the M.P.D when he was twenty two, but you beat that by a long-shot." The blonde eyed the man before her who was staring at her curiously, she hadn't expected Natsu to be a prodigy and she could honestly say she was surprised-his intellect seemed extremely low compared to brute strength.

"Hm," she nodded at his words and turned back to the _salmon_ haired male in question and gave him a once over before muttering to herself, "I thought his IQ was lower than that…"

"Wha-!?"

 _'Emergency Dispatch! We received a bomb threat for the local Zoo! All available officers move out!'_

The voice rang out as it explained the circumstances to all who were in the building before everything went deadly silent, Gildarts let out a tired sigh before putting out his cigarette and standing up, smirking down at the young blonde as he did. "Well looks like you've already got your first case with us. Welcome to First Unit Lucy."

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 _ **'-My dark sides coming so you better play dead.'**_

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 **Shattered-Nightmares712: Sorry for taking so long! The logic behind Lucy's age is messed up and I know-I doubt anyone could become a detective at the age of nineteen but just for this story she will be extremely young but hey, she's turning twenty soon~! I'm glad to see that some people are enjoying this story already, sorry if Lucy's really OOC but then again Cobra is too so hopefully you all aren't to bothered by the change in their personalities, I just morphed them to fit the story! Again I apologize for the extremely late update! Thanks for reading and thank you to those of you who reviewed, followed and favorite!** **  
 **Until next time!****

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	3. Chapter 2: Please, Enjoy the Show

**I am back with chapter two!**

 **Sorry for the long wait but I had other stories that needed**

 **To be updated first so**

 **Sorry again!**

 **Thank you guys so much for the reviews and support,**

 ** _Important: If you have not read the recently re-done prologue then read it now!_**

 **Anyway, Thanks for reading!**

 **Enjoy**

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 ** _'Deep down we're all enraged-'_**

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 **Chapter 2: Please, Enjoy the Show**

 **~QOoOQ~**

Natsu glanced wearily at his assigned partner, she had been eerily silent ever since they had gotten in the car, of course it had only be minutes since then but he was in no way used to silence when another person was around him. Lucy had been curt and polite when he first greeted her. He assumed she had just been nervous entering a new Unit. Although she had a certain air of confidence around her that dispersed his assumption. Slowly he halted to a stop when they hit a red light; Natsu guessed it was as good as any time to give a full explanation of the case.

"Gildarts briefed us on the case after you and Mystogan left to get the cars," he started slowly. He only receives a quick glance before continuing. "At approximately 11AM the Zoo received a bomb threat, the perp's voice coming over a P.A system-apparently holding the usual announcer hostage." He took a sharp turn at the intersection, silently remembering the directions to the Zoo.

"Has the identity of the perp been confirmed?"

"No. The witness that called MPD was warned not to phone us so as soon as he finished a brief explanation he hung up." He sighed. "Although there was a loud masculine voice in the background so the possibility of the perp being a male is almost certain." His eyes trained on the road as he gripped the steering wheel.

No response came after his words, the air hanging thickly above them; "did the perp give a time limit for the bomb?" He shook his head in response; the bomber had given no indication of whether or not the bomb would be set off manually or within a certain time limit, Natsu hoped it was not the latter. Whether the bomb was timed or set off whenever the perp wanted had a large influence on their plan, limited time meant they could not make a mistake-given the time being brief-although a manual bomb could be just as dangerous.

His brow scrunched together in concentration, he hated the looming silence around them, to him it was already bad enough they were going after a bomber who has taken over 500 people hostage, the tension was overpowering and the lack of conversation made his nerves heighten. "How come you wanted to become a detective Lucy?" The question was thrown out there on a whim, partially from curiosity and the rest from his desperate need for conversation.

"Ashley."

He glanced at her, "what?" Was that a friend of hers? She turned her head to look at him fully; her brown eyes held no warmth despite the welcoming color he so helplessly found familiar.

"This is work, Dragneel." Lucy reminded harshly, "surnames are to be used rather than first, and please refrain from speaking to me so familiarly." He blinked in surprise. She had been polite to him earlier as was expected from most when meeting someone from work but her tone in this moment seemed much more cool and distant. "Also, we are here to arrest a bomber-not to ask questions about each other." Silence once again followed; the air thick with tension.

Natsu just hoped everything would progress smoothly from then on.

* * *

 **~QOoOQ~**

Immediately upon arriving at the scene Natsu and Lucy were given instructions on what they would all be doing courtesy of Erza. Brown eyes danced across the area, a muffled voice reaching her ears-she assumed it to be the man they were trying to arrest although she was unsure of their plan of action. The scarlet haired detective had explained that they would be negotiating with the bomber, while another pair would be sneaking up behind him, although she disagreed.

"I don't think that is the best plan." Erza looked over at her curiously; obviously she had not expected anyone to disagree with her-she was the second in command after Gildarts but he was speaking with the bomb specialist from another Unit. She pointed to the announcer's quarters on the map laid out on the hood of their vehicle, "I doubt that the perp has only one bomb set to detonate, despite the fact that we are unaware of whether they are set off manually or from a time limit, you still want to send us in there to negotiate."

Erza nodded, "yes, while I realize there is much risk I see no other alternative. We cannot put the citizens in any more danger than they already are and if we try to force the bomber out than he may set them off."

"Or they will blow up either way," she pointed out before stating her opinion. "I think we should distract the perp and try to search for any bombs, we need back up-we obviously cannot do this by ourselves with the hostages coming out unscathed."

"Chances are there will be some casualties either way we go," Gray cut in casually before glancing over at Lucy. "Although do you really want to continue a pointless argument when we could have only minutes to save these hostages?" She grimaced and kept her lips tightly sealed, while she knew she was wasting time she couldn't help but notice the uneasy feeling rolling in her stomach.

Erza nodded, "Good. Detective Fullbuster and I will negotiate with the bomber. " She jutted her chin towards Natsu, " Detective Dragneel, you and your partner will infiltrate the announcers building while we distract the perp, meanwhile Detective Clive and Detective Fernandez will check each floor within the building and confirm the hostages safety." With one last intense look at the three of them, the scarlet haired detective strode in through the gates confidently with Gray trailing behind her.

Natsu scratched his cheek, "Still don't understand why she uses our last name…" Lucy rolled her eyes as she checked the ammunition in her gun before shifting her attention to the announcers' position in which they assumed the bomber was still within. "Ready?" She nodded in response and led the way to the back entrance that provided them a blind spot from the bombers suspicious eye.

Lucy caught a glimpse at her new partner shuffling up beside her silently, his back pressed against the wall beside the door. He was being cautious she realized, initially she had taken the salmon haired detective as rebellious, short-tempered, and extremely combative. Although, now she was able to see a little more of his professional side, cautious, determined eyes and tensed muscles ready for any sudden attacks.

She was slightly taken aback.

Natsu sighed, "No one's there."

"How can you possibly know this?"

He tapped his ear, "trained hearing- I could probably hear a squirrel fart in that tree over there if I really wanted too."

She grimaced, "Disgusting and unnecessary information."

Natsu shrugged, "You're the one who asked." She glared at his back but remained silent as she followed him up the stairs, gun at the ready for anyone who posed a threat to theirs, or the hostage's life. Lucy suddenly thought how she wouldn't mind pulling the trigger; she could hear a child crying faintly in the background looking for her mother, any person-man or woman- who could take the life of an innocent child more than deserved death.

She worried her lower lip slightly, how long did they have exactly? The voice of the bomber was resounding around the building, could this man really have done it all alone? Or did he have an accomplice?

 _"Oh? Why should I listen to a bunch of cops?"_ He sounded young. Perhaps around the age of twenty-five. Too young to already be starting a life of crime. Her mind race, what would the motive be for a twenty-four year old man-who could still possibly be in university or college- to take over three hundred people hostage. Had he been through Trauma? That was a possibility, most criminals tended to have a dark upbringing.

Her brown eyes turned over toward Natsu, he appeared to be calm and collected-concentration in his eyes but the bead of sweat rolling down his forehead exploited his nervousness. Although, who wouldn't be when both your life and three hundred civilians lives were at the risk of being taken. One slip up and it could be the end.

Natsu seemed to know this.

 _"That is tempting,"_ she heard the perps voice over the announcement system. " _Although you do realize, if I find you are lying then you have put many, many innocent lives at stake, right?"_ That bastard was trying to provoke them. Mavis she hoped Erza and Gray wouldn't fall for the bait. Too many officers had fallen under pressure in these situations and had gotten others hurt because of it.

 _"Confident are we?"_ Lucy could hear fearful sobs in the background; of course they would be scared. Who wouldn't be terrified in a situation like this? Although, she had been in worst and experienced worse-whether Natsu was afraid or not he never gave any sign of it. Another scream. She watched as his face turned into a grimace. His teeth grinding together. Not something anyone wanted to hear when in a situation like this.

Then why did he look so impatient.

Her brown eyes shifted briefly to look at him once again. Why was she even bothering with thoughts of him? She didn't need to worry about anyone around her. She had other priorities and getting close to her new colleagues was not one of them. She only needed herself. She was better off alone anyway. Natsu's pace quickened up the stairs. Hurried, almost frantic pace. What was he doing? The screaming continued.

She readied her gun. Lucy knew what he was planning now-he wanted to see if the girl was alright. The girl sounded young, crying her heart out as she called out for her mother. Over and over again her frantic screams echoed around them, she was closer now. _"Mommy!"_

 _Mama._

She grits her teeth. Her face contorted in concentration. Beads of sweat rolling down her face. Natsu's steps stilled. Lucy looked around him and at the door he was staring at, back tense and threatening. What was wrong? Was there a bomb? Was the girl hidden behind it? Her eyes widened, breath hitched, hands clenched. Blood.

 _Oh Mavis the blood._

 _Mama._

 _No!_ Not now.

 _"Little girl spinning 'round and 'round~"_

A thick coated layer of blood stained the carpeted floor. The crimson substances dripped down the door, a clear hole through it. Shot and killed. Mavis. Her hard eyes turned to the screeching child on the floor. A little girl no more than ten hunched over her dead mother. Her body trembled, her pale hands covered in her mother's blood. Blue hair coated in red. Lucy swallowed thickly. Block the pain. Block the unwanted memories. Mama- _stop_!

 _"Oh! Did you hear that?"_ The little girls sobbing increased. _"The agonized scream of a little girl finding her mother dead on the floor. Such a delightful kill too."_ Lucy grit her teeth. That fucking psycho. She stepped closer to the traumatized girl, she couldn't have been more than ten years old. She knelt down beside her and examined the murdered mother. A gruesome sight indeed but she had seen worse. Lucy looked at the blue haired girl sadly. _Be glad you had her for so long kid_.

"Luce?" She sighed and placed two fingers on the woman's neck. No pulse. She nodded her head, not looking at Natsu. Turning to the girl she patted her head and brushed the hair out of her moist eyes. Honey brown eyes turned to meet hers, unshed tears clearly shown in them. The little girl's body shook more.

"W-Who ar-re you!?" She placed herself over her mother's bleeding body. Her eyes turned to the gun securely held in Lucy's and Natsu's hands. "W-Why do you have guns!?"

"We're the police." Natsu told her gently, kneeling beside Lucy. "Can you tell us your name?" She glanced at each of their faces, her hands tightly clenched around her mother's hand.

"Wendy."

"Well Wendy I'm Natsu and this is my partner Lucy. We're here to help everyone get out safely." Lucy nodded. Good. She seemed more comfortable around them. Although they couldn't just leave the poor girl here, she needed to be taken away from her mother. "Would you mind coming with us?" The blondes head snapped his way. How could he ask that!? Brining an innocent bystander into a battle zone between cops and criminals. Besides the kid had just lost her mother dammit!

"Dragneel, I don't think-"

 _"No!"_ Lucy looked at Wendy. Her short refusal sounded harsh and offended. "I can't just leave her here! My Mommy's hurt! Can't you see that!?" Natsu glanced down at the bleeding mother, his thoughts the same as his partners. She was dead. Wendy looked desperate, eyes unclear and denying the truth they were shown. "You're police right!? Can't you save her!?"

"Wendy, she's already... It's too late-we can't help her." Her head shook rapidly. Her body flinching away from the salmon haired males gentle touch. "It's alright; she's in a nice place now." Natsu told her softly, trying once again to pull the girl into a hug. She shrieked.

 _"No! She's not dead_!" Tears poured down her face. Her back hitting the wall, a safe distance between her and Natsu. " _She's alive! Can't you see!? She's suffering_!" Her eyes were glued to her mother's deceased form, worry evident in her gaze. The poor child she was refusing to see what was in front of her. " _She's not dead! Not dead! Not dead! Not dead! Not! Dead_!" Wendy walked back and forth, her words coming out in quick and uneven beats.

They didn't have time for this!

Lucy groaned and smacked her hand against the wall-efficiently grabbing the girls attention. Her rocking didn't stop. "Listen here kid 'cuz I'm only going to say this once! You're mother is dead! She is no longer breathing and you cannot go through life thinking she is alive when she is in fact five feet in the ground!" Harsh, bitter truth. That is what Wendy needed to hear, she didn't need to be gentle told her mother is gone. Seeing it with your eyes made no difference to her and it was making no difference to the girl in front of them.

"Luce, I don't think-"

"Shut it Dragneel, I'm not done." Lucy's eyes turned back to the angered Wendy's. "Now you can either sit here on your ass and pretend everything is alright and your mom is just on an extended vacation in the spirit world or you can take the truth as it is and mourn." Wendy glared at her, not backing away as Lucy got close.

"What do you know!?" She accused angrily. "You've never seen something like this! Your Mommy bleeding in front of you!?" She glared. "How dare you tell me to get over it."

"I have experienced this." Lucy replied calmly. "I have seen and experienced many things that are disgusting but you know what? I had to accept the truth and move on." A sigh escaped her lips, pulling the shaking girl closer. "You can stop denying it now. It won't do you any good." All at once the loud sobs racked through Wendy's body. Her small hands gripping the edge of Lucy's shirt. That's right little girl, accept it and mourn. Move on but never forget. Never forget how happy you were with her.

 _"Mommy!"_

Natsu stiffened behind the blonde. "What is it Dragneel?" He sniffed the air briefly. She quirked a brow, what? Did he have a super sense of smell too? The ground shook and his eyes widened before he pushed them both down to the ground. His body covered both of theirs as an immense amount of heat enveloped them.

 _"Get down!"_

 _"…You're offer does not interest me."_ Black dots clouded her vision, the overwhelming heat was clawing at her flesh. The weight of Natsu's body felt shockingly heavy. Was he dead? Surely eh could withstand the heat. She wasn't. It was too hot. _"Do you think I can be persuaded by money? Pitiful. My Bombs are just as beautiful as fireworks. Although they are much more fatal."_ The darkness was approaching so fast. Her eyes drooped. Was that an explosion? Her body went limp. _"So sit back and enjoy the display everyone."_

 _"Now she's falling down, down, down~"_

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 ** _'-don't wake the beast inside its cage.'_**

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 **Shattered-Nightmares712: How was it? Sorry it took so long for me to update this again, I've been a bit busy, schools starting up so I have to do things for that! Anyway, were now starting to get into some of the more interesting stuff in this story other than the NaLu of course! I will be updating Tainted next after this but it will take me a bit, I have school and I have to sculpt my dad something before his birthday next week and the clay takes a week to dry. I will stop rambling now! Thanks for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Burning Sinner's

**Hey everyone!**

 **I'm back with another chapter.**

 **I had some great ideas for this chapter so**

 **I decided to post it earlier than originally planned.**

 _ **Important note at the end of chapter! Please read it!**_

 **Hopefully you guys will enjoy this**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

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 _ **'I know that you've been bad, shame on you for what you did-'**_

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 **Chapter 3: Burning Sinner's**

 **~QOoOQ~**

A maniac grin spread across his face. He succeeded. _Repent!_ Dark eyes greedily took in the sight of burning flames. Ashes dirtied his clothes. The announcer, he was a man filled with bravery. Although the announcer was no brave soldier once held hostage by a bomb. The announcer called him a psychopath? He was foolish for letting such rude words leave his mouth. Did three hundred lives mean nothing to him? Apparently not. He laughed. The detectives he had spoken to. They were smart, but they underestimated his abilities. Money was of no interest to him. The feeling of power he felt, the adrenaline rush that pumped through him as he waited eagerly for the mesmerizing explosion. That was what he craved.

Those police officers- Detective Scarlet and Fernandez were their names if he remembered correctly- knew nothing. Money was what sinners wanted. He was _not_ a sinner. Child you must not sin! His gaze rushed up to the blew sky. It was almost completely hidden from his view. The Flames, oh how beautiful they were. Flames were something to cherish, not fear. Yes, the burning was good for the soul. Do not fear it. People liked warmth. Why fear the heat of the fire if they do not fear the warmth of love? The fire loved to burn. Did no one understand this? The flames were just lonely.

Heat rushed over him. The beauty before him of burning buildings along with the screams of the people burning within them. It was music to his ears. _You disgraceful child!_ His grin turned to a grimace. Block it out. Don't listen. _Repent!_ She knew nothing. The smell of burning wood and flesh surrounded him. They were being cleansed. Stripped of all their sins, from the young children to the elderly adults at the brink of death-they all held them. They harboured their sins with such pride not even worrying of the consequences. They were the sinners and he was the person who punished.

He dusted the sinful ashes off. They were what represented the evil within those ignorant people. He grinned, the flames burning strongly much like himself. They had repent. Yes. Let the flames purify you. He shrugged on his coat and shoved his hands deep within the pockets. His lips puckered. His breath blowing through to create a low and unpleasant tune. They would know soon enough. They must repent. He walked down the still street. They would burn and the ashes would be taken from their disgusting bodies while their skin was cleansed by the heat of the flames. They will repent.

And then they will die.

 _ **...**_

Overwhelming heat rushed over him. The smell of burning wood and fresh blood filled his nose. Natsu could hear the crackling of fire along with the weight of something heavy on him. Was he back there again? His eyes felt heavy. Maybe he could relax in the heat, that was alright wasn't it? No. His hand shakily made a fist beneath the rubble. He was tired as hell and the dull pains in his back were no help to keeping him aware. Natsu cracked his heavy eyes open. The room was dark and filled with smoke. He could see the orange light the flames provided.

His blurry eyes turned towards the bodies beneath him. Lucy was passed out, most likely from hitting her head. A small trail of blood slid down her head. Fuck he hoped it wasn't too bad. Bad enough for her to pass out. He growled at himself before turning toward Wendy who was beneath them all. Her brown eyes were cracked open, barely seeing his face right in front of her. "Wendy?" Her head turned slightly. Carefully shifting his arm he grabbed hold of her face and shoulder and checked for injuries. Good. She was alright.

Although that didn't mean the building wouldn't collapse on them.

A harsh breath escaped him. Natsu's hands pressed firmly against the warm ground and pushed up. The rubble shifted slightly. Good Lord it was heavy. His arms trembled beneath his weight but he couldn't stop. If they didn't get out of the building soon then it would surely be their end. Again. He pushed up, his eyes shut tightly. It shifted off a bit more, he could see more light now. Once more. Natsu turned his body and gripped the exposed edge of the roof before pushing to the side. The skin on his hands was thoroughly damaged and bleeding profusely but a little scar was nothing compared to life.

He looked down at his partner before gently pulling her off the young girl beneath her. Wendy sat up slowly, she seemed dazed. Perhaps she was in shock? No surprise. Any child would be in shock seeing their mother killed so brutally and then having a bomb explode shortly after. "Are you alright?" Natsu asked her cautiously. Her eyes snapped back to him before she nodded mutely. "Okay," he grunted as the weight of Lucy's body sunk into his arms. "We need to leave quickly."

"But what about everyone else?"

Damn. He forgot the reason they were in there. His eyes searched the stairs, "I don't think anyone survived the explosion up there. Hell we barely did." Natsu looked back at her as he headed down the stairs. "We can check for survivors as we go down but I am not risking your safety or my partners without knowing for sure there is a efficient way to escape and bring the survivors back safely." Harsh but it was the bitter truth. A rumble went through the building, nearly knocking him down. "We need to go now."

"But the people-"

"Wendy," he looked back at her harshly. She didn't understand. He wanted to save everyone-and he would. Natsu wanted to prevent lives form being lost. He knew what was best in situations like these and risking their lives to go further into the flames was not something he recommended. "I will check if there are any survivors below us. We cannot risk going up any farther." No room for argument. She followed closely behind. Her quiet sobs not going unnoticed by him. Damn he hated this. Don't think about it. She may hate you but it is for the best.

But was it?

Was he just going to let the bomber go? There was a possibility the criminal was still within the premises and he was just going to let him escape? No. The man wouldn't be in the building, he was too smart for that. The suspect must have escaped moments before the bomb was set off. The bomber hadn't accepted the bribe they offered. Money wasn't his motive, what was? Revenge? There was no indication of him wishing to hurt someone for that reason. He said the bombs were like fireworks. Did he do it for the fun of it? That was large possibility considering how he had made it seem like entertainment. Mavis the man was sick. (Note: Fireworks reference is because they are beautiful but harmful if too close)

Didn't he know there were small, helpless children within the area? Of course he did. This was a zoo after all, it was expected children would be running around with their parents looking at the animals held within the vicinity. Why? He clenched his jaw. What was the reason for hurting hundreds of innocent people with one bomb? Would he do it again? Did he take pleasure in the damage his bomb had done? Natsu had a feeling that whoever this twisted criminal was, he would strike again.

"Dragneel?" He looked down at the blonde girl held firmly in his arms. Her eyes were swollen, barely allowing her to see through them. Her hair covered in ashes and pieces of ceiling. Cuts and scrapes littered her body. Mavis she looked like shit. "Where is he?"

"Who?"

"The bomber." Shit. How was he going to tell her? He didn't answer. "Dragneel?" She looked into his eyes before sighing. Maybe she already knew the answer. She did find him to be a coward anyway so it was an obvious assumption. She struggled against his hold. "Let me down."

"No."

"I'm not asking."

He bit back a growl when she hit a particularly tender spot. "I'm not letting you go." He tightened his grip. Natsu knew what she was going to do if he put her down. He'd be damned if he let her walk into a suicide mission. Last set of stairs. No survivors so far. He paused and peeked into a nearby room. Someone was sitting up, groaning in pain. Alive! Someone was alive! Through the darkness Natsu could see the survivor was a young girl, around the age of six possibly. He hastily ran down the last flight of stairs.

"Dragneel let me the fuck go."

"Luce you can't even see down the street." He scolded, "How are going to see in the dark and check for small injuries. Anything could be fatal and if we're not out in time then we die."

"I can still help."

"No."

"Let me go-!" Her head dropped onto his shoulder abruptly. Natsu heard Wendy gasp behind him as he placed Lucy on the ground a safe distance away. He sighed and looked back at the burning building. He was sure the other detectives were searching the other buildings for survivors at the moment. He needed to move. A piece of wood fell from the structure. Time to go.

"Natsu, you just hurt Lucy!"

He shrugged. "She'll be fine. I just knocked her out, she would be no help like that. Besides Lucy's strong." That much Natsu could tell. His new partner had a fiery determination and an efficient way of thinking. Of course he had only small things to go off of but for now he had deducted those traits. Further into their partnership perhaps he would see more of Lucy rather than just her stoic, detective side. He smiled at the thought.

Opening the door to the building he just left, Natsu coughed. Thick black smoke wafted out. Mavis he hoped no one was standing at the moment. He ducked his head slightly and went through the lower rooms once again. His radio went off. Good Lord did he need help. Laxus' voice rung out form the speak. _"Detective Dragneel?"_ His hand shakily grabbed the device.

"I'm alright. Checking for survivors in suspects previous location." He paused. "This really isn't good Laxus." Static followed after his words, of course it was bad-a bomb just went off at a fucking zoo. He opened another door further up, the girl he found earlier was fine but passed out. Too much smoke inhalation. A cough erupted form his throat. He was beginning to think Laxus lost connection with him.

"Any survivors?"

"So far only two. Young Male, around six passed out from smoke inhalation. The second is a young female around the age of fifteen, she's outside with the boy right now."

"...Is my sister alright?"

"Nothing serious." Natsu responded vaguely. Another set of dead bodies. "We got crushed by some rubble, she and the little girl were under me so there's a possibility of a broken rib." Truthfully she sounded like she was having a hard time breathing when he picked her up.

"Dammit. Where is she now?"

"Outside with the kids. She's past out."

"Too much smoke?"

"Uh... I may have forced a small nap on her." He pulled the radio away from his face as Laxus cursed him out. In hindsight he probably shouldn't have knocked her out. He shrugged- she wouldn't sit still despite herself.

"I swear Dragneel if anything happens to my sister-"

"Yeah yea." Another body. Dead. "Keep in contact, let me know how the others are doing." He received a brief grunt before the radio produced static. Natsu sighed, some of the worry was off him. Back up would be here soon along with the bomb squad. He went up another flight, he was on the level they found Wendy. He looked behind the bloody door, carefully moving the deceased mother. Four survivors, one standing.

Their terrified eyes turned to him. "Calm down. I'm a cop." He took out his badge and they nodded mutely. "Are any of you badly injured?" One of them-a woman- pointed to and elderly male.

"He can't breath sir. A piece of ceiling fell down on his chest, I bet he broke a rib." Natsu walked up to the elder male. He looked worse for wear but he was alive at least. Popping open the mans shirt he looked at his chest. He grimaced, a bone was sticking up. Definitely broken.

"Can anyone who is able to walk on their own help him down the stairs?" They nodded. "I want you all out quickly, there will be two young kids a safe distance away from here along with another police officer; Detective Ashley. Look for them."

"What about your sir?"

Natsu began to walk away. "I'm going up further. Hurry up." He walked up the next bit of stairs. The smell was stronger now. Mavis it was hard to breath. He checked another room. Dead. His eyes glanced up the stairs, it was the last set before the final floor. It didn't look safe, should head back. Natsu heard a small cry. Shit. He pulled his shirtsleeve down further and covered his mouth and nose. He peered into the room, their was a young man most likely in his early twenties.

Natsu grabbed his trembling body gently. Burns and cuts were all over his skin. The mans eyes began to droop. "Hey!" Natsu urgently called out, he couldn't let him pass out. There was so much blood. He raced down the second set of steps. "Stay awake, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"Mm."

Three more sets. "Can you tell me your name?" Perhaps he was related to the youngest girl he had rescued earlier, they looked quite similar. Light blue hair. Innocent blue eyes. Pale skin. Soft features. The boy took in a sharp breath and moved his head to the side so it was laying against his shoulder.

"G-Gem..." His small fingers stained in blood wrapped around the cloth of his collar. Natsu pulled the cloth held to his mouth away from him and placed it over the boys. "S-Sis..?" His droopy eyes stared hopefully at him. Truthfully he was unsure whether his sister had survived or not so he chose to remain silent.

"What's your sisters name?"

"Minni."

"How old is she?" If she was his older sister, maybe thirteen then he doubted she survived if she was in the building. Although Natsu wouldn't tell him that. Damn. Maybe he should get Lucy to break all bad news, he hated bringing it. He shook his head. He couldn't do that. Gem spoke.

"Six. Like me." Natsu's eyes widened.

"Twins?"

"Mmhm." It was getting hard to breath. Black spots littered his vision and his steps became unsteady. _Come on. Not now!_ Only one more set of stairs. Pressure fell on his lungs the more he used them. He had to get out. Natsu couldn't stop here. A loud rumble shook the building. It was going to collapse. He needed to get out. The smoke was so thick he could barely see a few steps ahead of him. The boy had long since passed out but the cloth remained over his mouth and nose.

Natsu's shoulder met the door and he pushed. Bright light filled the smoky building and he hurried out of it. He felt dizzy. Too much smoke. He could see a flash of blonde hair. Was that Lucy? She was awake? He stumbled down in front of the survivors and his partner. Faintly he could hear the voices of his unit members and the sound of a little girls voice calling out to her brother. Was that Gem's sister? His shoulders fell in relief. Good he still had his sister.

"You idiot!" Natsu blinked blearily at the blonde blob. Lucy? "Why the fuck did you do that!?" She sounded angry, opposite of her calm composure. Why was she angry? He felt her shake his shoulder roughly. "You said I'm your partner didn't you!? So if I'm your partner than how do you think I felt being left behind napping while you go on a suicide mission!?" So that was why she was mad. Natsu coughed.

"S-Sorry Luce..."

"Bastard." Lucy spat at him before helping one of the paramedics with his injuries. "Leave me behind again and you will have more to worry about then just a burning building." He tried to laugh but it was getting hard to even breath. His eyes closed. A small nap wouldn't hurt now that all the survivors were out of the building.

Lucy sighed as she watched her new partner pass out. She was pissed. How could he knock her out and leave traumatized kids with her? She let out a sigh as one of the medics came over to her. Her body ached and her head felt like splitting open. Wendy had long since left with her grandmother Porlyusica. The elder woman was actually a doctor who had treated her before she moved in with her father. Her brown eyes shifted toward the twins Gem and Mini. Lucy had asked them if they knew of any family members they could stay with seeing as their father had been in the flaming building but there was no one.

She hissed, her arm burning. The building had long since burned down. Erza, Gray and Mystogan had returned with over fifty survivors but none went uninjured. Mavis who would do this? Psychotic people. Someone who enjoys the rush and excitement of killing someone. That causes misery to others. Lucy doubted the person they were dealing with was going to go down easily. What was his reason? Why was he doing this? Lucy rested her head in her hands. She was shaking. Her eyes trained on the burning building, bodies trapped within. So many bodies.

Dead.

Blood.

Mavis there's so much blood.

 _Where are you Little Dead Body?_

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 **Shattered-Nightmares712: _IMPORTANT: So this involves the situation of my computer. Unfortunately the reason why its not working is because it's burnt out from a power outage we had awhile ago and won't turn on anymore. Any documents I had saved on that computer are gone and have to be remade, luckily I have almost all my documents save onto fanfiction other than the chapter for Tainted I was about to post. I will be updating but it wont be too often because I have to either use my dads computer, my tablet (which takes forever) or what time I have on the computers by myself at school._ I actually started writing this chapter in my Careers and civics class because we literally had no work to do and so my teacher came up to me and asked what I was interested in doing after high school and I said I was interested in studying medicine and maybe taking a course in criminology. He thought that was pretty interesting and he looked and my computer, asking what I was typing, and after he read it (the beginning of this chapter) he's like criminology may need some more thought. I was laughing so hard after that!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Talking

**Been awhile since I updated!**

 **I have some good ideas for the next few chapters,**

 **so be prepared!**

 **I left you guys off on a bit of a cliffhanger**

 **so I bet you're excited for this!**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **So here's chapter 4!**

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 ** _'Apocalypse is on its way, we're all trained to be afraid-'_**

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 **Chapter 4: Talking**

 **~QOoOQ~**

It had been a week since the bombing. Lucy and Natsu had ended up having a ride on an ambulance to the hospital to get themselves checked out. Both inhaled way too much smoke and Natsu ended up with a cracked rip while Lucy herself only received minor injuries along with a few bruised ribs. The blonde flipped through documents of the reports on the bombing, forensics evidence would finally becoming in today and she was impatient to see what the hell they had. "Come on Luce, relax a bit..." She felt her partners warm hand on her shoulder.

"You're telling me to relax, Dragneel? There is a criminal with multiple lives on his hands running loose and yet you want me to relax?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"How many times have I told you to call me Natsu?"

"How many times have I told you not to call me Luce?" She promptly turned from him and down to the paper in her hands. The twins that had been in the building they were in still needed a home. Apparently their only relative had been killed in the incident. Now they were without a family or a home. Fuck, she hated seeing children like that. Maybe she could ask a favor from her brother? No, he already has three to look after with his wife. Perhaps Erik? No, he basically lives in the forensics lab, it wouldn't be healthy for the twins.

Lucy shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking of this now, she needed to gather the information from some of the witnesses, they still had more to collect but for now she would deal with what they had. She quickly scanned through them. They were all very informative, although it made sense. The only witness that would really help them would be the announcer, but he's dead. She took a sip of her coffee and glanced around the room. The atmosphere was tense, unlike its usual carefree feeling.

Her eyes travelled to the scarlet haired detective. The woman had been beating herself up over the lives lost in the bombings. Erza hadn't said anything but Lucy knew the look she held on her face all-too well. It wasn't a sight Lucy could get used to, she had seen Erza around the MPD quite a bit and she always seemed to have a stone hard face. This was nothing like the brave girl she had seen before. Although it was a given considering plenty of lives had been lost, and all for what? They hadn't caught the suspect nor did they find any concrete evidence.

Lucy overheard some of the forensics team speaking. They were talking about how the evidence would do them no good. She needed the evidence though. What type of bomb was used? Was it a timer or a trigger? Is there any distinct traits that related to a previous case? Lucy clenched her hands into fists. The maniac sounded as if he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the fear everyone was giving him. He enjoyed having that control over anyone. There had to be something behind it all. Vengeance? It couldn't be, what vengeance would he have against a few hundred people? Maybe it was a sacrifice? But for whom and for what reason? They were all possibilities but none of them seemed to fit the way he acted.

A man of vengeance would be angrier, more aggressive toward anyone he spoke, this man seemed playful. If he was sacrificing those lives for someone or something, the possibility of the suspect preaching his beliefs to his hostages would have been likely but he didn't. Although they couldn't rule that out. The suspect seemed to enjoy the idea of everything blowing up in flames. A pyromaniac? It was likely, an arsonist would be best to figure something like this out. Maybe she should ask her friend later. A knock on their headquarters door interrupted her thoughts. Levy walked in a moment later with her goggles placed atop her head.

"The analysis and evidence came back." She told them bluntly before holding a folder and handing it to Gray. "There isn't much to go off of but it may be enough to give us some suspects in criminal records that we have filed away." Gray opened the file and skimmed over its contents. "The bomb that was used was called a pipe bomb; an improvised explosive device that can turn simple, low explosives to produce a relatively large explosion. The fragments of the pipe itself can create potentially lethal shrapnel." She paused as their faces turned grim.

"So was it a timer or did he have a detonator?"

"It seems the suspect made the fuse so it was electric which was attached to a timer, set to detonate after fifty-minutes of being activated." Her face turned grim as she looked over to Lucy, "the original explosive was just a minor homemade bomb created by cleaning chemicals found in most homes so there was no distinctive evidence in there that we could use. Sorry we couldn't help you anymore Lucy, but the Pipe Bomb may help narrow the search results down." She nodded at the forensics' scientist.

"It's no problem Levy-Chan, you did your best. Thank Erik for me too, will you?" Although her brother mainly focused on poisons, he always jumped to help her when she was in need of help. Levy nodded before turning around and exiting the room. She hadn't given them much information, but they could at least name a few suspects. Gildarts took a long drag from his smoke before looking at them.

"Erza, Mystogan-I want you both to look into past cases with similar traits as this one. Gray, I need you to go get some more witness testimonies from the hospital-if they try giving you any trouble just tell them to call me and I will take care of it." He looked to Laxus. "I want you to go back to the scene of the crime and see if we missed anything, doesn't matter how trifling it may be-anything could help us. Natsu and Lucy, you both are to go home and rest for a bit, you have to patrol around the Zoo tonight and I don't want either of you to fall asleep and possibly miss something, so make sure you rest."

"Mr. Clive," Lucy spoke up. "I'm rested enough to finish my work-"

"That's an order Lucy. I want you to go home and rest." Mavis, she didn't want to rest. She hated do something so relaxing when she could be out there doing something for the case. She needed to listen to Gildarts though. She would rest for the day but tomorrow she would be working late.

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 **~QOoOQ~**

 _He couldn't breathe! Where was his father? The heat was becoming unbearable. His body was screaming. He just wanted to sleep. It hurt so much. Where was his father? He could see flames flicking through the holes in the walls he was facing. Why was there a fire? What happened? Surely it wasn't his Dad. His father was extremely cautious around them when he was toying with fire. He was around fire all the time for his job after all, he knew it was dangerous. A dull thud echoed around the room. The ceiling was beginning to collapse. Where is his dad!?_

 _A sharp pain ran through his side. Natsu blinked blearily at his stomach. There was a pipe lodged through his side. That was why it hurt. What was he supposed to do? It hurt so much to move and he couldn't just wait until the firemen came. It would be too late by then. He needed to get out before help arrived otherwise he would be eaten by the flames. What did his father always tell him to do? Stop, drop and roll. He couldn't do that very well but he could crawl. His father always told him to stay low._

 _The air was getting thick. Coughs erupted from his mouth and he pulled his scarf over his face. He hated dirtying his scarf but if getting his scarf dirtied with soot was what it took to get out, he would. Natsu put his hands on the door, good, it was cool. The fire was in the room next to him but that didn't mean it couldn't travel. He opened the door quickly and scurried toward the stairs. He could faintly hear sirens. They were coming! Where was his dad? Nobody else was home today, only his dad. Where could he be?_

 _He crawled down the stairs carefully, the crackling of the flames getting louder behind him. A few more steps left! Where was his dad? Pain shot through his side and he tumbled down the remaining steps. Mavis it burned! He could hear groaning behind him. His dad! He pushed through the pain and crawled over to his father who lay breathless on the ground, trapped under heaps of wood. "Dad!" Natsu pulled at his father's arms, desperately trying to pull him out!_

 _His father shook him off and handed him a damp cloth. "Go get help son!" He didn't want to. The building was going to collapse! What if help didn't come in time! He wouldn't leave him. His father glared sternly at him, "Do as I say Natsu! Go!" He was wasting time. Should he go? His father looked at him earnestly, "Everything will be okay son. Go get some help." Tears were running down his face. Why did it seem like his father was lying? He left anyway. He limped out of the house and down the street to where he saw a figure._

 _"Wait!" He called out breathlessly. The pain in his side was no longer numb. It was getting hard to see and his breathing was becoming labored. The figure didn't halt its pace. Perhaps they didn't hear him. "Please! My Dad needs help!" He cried again and this time the figure stopped. Natsu crouched over his knees and looked up at the figures back, grasping the persons coat. "Please help my Dad! He's stuck!" There's a fire in his house! He needed help. Finally the figure turned and he could see the eyes of the person widened briefly before they narrowed._

 _"You can't help him now." The figure told him bluntly. The pain was getting worse and everything was starting to fade. "I can't help him." No. The man was lying. His father said everything would be okay. Suddenly something caught his eye and before he could react, pain coursed through his head and everything went dark._

 ** _…_**

Natsu jolted awake in his own sweat. Again? He ran a shaky hand through his hair. Where were his pills? He needed them. He fumbled around his nightstand in the darkness of his room. Where did he put them? There they were! He popped open the lid. He grabbed two and swallowed them along with some water. His head was throbbing. The pin would go away soon. He didn't have to remember. Push it down. Fuck he wanted a drink. But he couldn't, he was on duty tonight.

What time was it? He has an hour before he had to meet up with Lucy. Natsu needed a shower. He felt disgusting and he needed to relax himself. He flicked on the lights to his bathroom and blinked. It was bright. Maybe a shower in the dark? He turned the water onto freezing cold and stepped under it. _He could hear the crackling of the flames._ Natsu leaned his head against the wall, he needed to forget. It's in the past. Suppress it and bury it down. His hands lazily stroked the scar on his side. Some things he couldn't forget.

 _It was hard to breath! The smell of flames burning through the wood of their house!_ Maybe he needed more pills? He would talk to his doctor after tonight. He would have the next day off so it would be fine. He finished his shower and dried off. He needed to eat and then go. Natsu slipped in casual clothes. Tonight they wouldn't need their uniform. He grabbed an apple from the kitchen and glanced at the time. Shit! He was going to be late. Natsu grabbed his keys, badge and gun before dashing out of his house and racing toward the zoo.

Lucy is going to kill him.

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 **~QOoOQ~**

"You're late." She pointed out once Natsu arrived. Lucy had been waiting fifteen minutes past their meet up time and she was already agitated and cold. He paused for a moment and looked at her.

"Did you walk here?"

"Obviously." She rolled her eyes at him and crossed her arms. "I don't have a car." He nodded and gestured for her to get in his car. Truthfully she'd much rather be working on the case at headquarters but she wasn't her own boss anymore. Lucy needed to listen to Gildarts from now on.

"Why don't you have a car?"

"I live close enough to work so that I don't need one." She buckled herself into the seat as they began to move. "Besides I prefer to walk."

"Even when it's cold?"

"…" She didn't answer him but it was clear she was not keen on the idea of being out in the cold. Natsu took this moment to briefly observe her. She was in her casual clothes which weren't to different from what she wore at work. Jeans, a loose top, a warm jacket and combat boots. It was something that she could comfortably wear if she needed to run. He couldn't help but think she looked pretty. _Back away from those thoughts._

"So, have any guesses as to who bombed the zoo?"

She shook her head grimly. "No, although I am assuming the suspect is male-I don't think he used a voice modifier when he spoke through the microphone."

He nodded and turned a corner. "Yeah, I agree with you on that. Although I can't help but wonder why…"

"That happens with every case, 'why would they do something like that? What was the force behind their actions that would build their desire to commit a crime?' It's a common question but we can't always understand the reason." She turned her head away from him to look out the window. "Criminals say one thing and whether it's true or not, it doesn't always make sense."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, that a criminal's reason will never truly make sense to anyone other than them. For example, a criminal with past issues that messed with his mind and turned into an untreated mental illness, he may explain his motive to us to the best of his ability but we won't ever truly get it unless we can see exactly what's going on in their mind." He nodded. This girl was observant from what he could tell. He admired that in a detective.

"You're Laxus' little sister right?" She nodded in reply and he asked. "Why don't you use the same last name as he does? Heartfilia."

"Because I don't feel like I am one."

He was confused. "But you are, aren't you?"

"On paper. I didn't know my father until I was already well aware of my surroundings. That's when I met Laxus and Erik," She glanced at him suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"

"We're partners and I think that in order to work well together, we need to get to know each other. Go ahead and ask a question about me." She was hesitant to answer him. Maybe she was just nervous to open up to someone new? He wasn't that much of a stranger to her though, they had been working together for a week. Although they never had a chance quite like this to talk normally up until now.

"How long have you been in first unit for?"

He smiled lazily. "About a year, almost two now. Although I knew Erza and the guys way before I joined." She turned to him curiously.

"You knew them before working?"

"Yeah, met Erza and Mystogan in High School and Gray and your brother in middle school." He shook his head and chuckled at Lucy. "Honestly we were all pretty big troublemakers back then, not one of us thought we would become a police officer-well maybe Erza, she was always keen on discipline."

"…I can imagine that."

"Right? She always denies it and still says she is inexperienced but she's on par with Gildarts and that says a lot." Natsu looked at her hesitantly, "You know, she feels guilty about the whole bombing incident-she thinks if she had of listened to you we could have saved more people, maybe everyone." Lucy knew that. She could see the guilt covering the scarlet haired detectives eyes every time the case was brought up. She rolls down the window and lights a cigarette. "Smoking's bad for your health, Lucy."

She ignored his comment. "After hearing Levy's report I doubt my way would have been any better than what Scarlet had planned so she shouldn't beat herself up over it." That was an impossible statement for Erza to agree to.

Natsu looked at her stoically, he could tell there was something wrong. She seemed so detached. Why wouldn't she open up to them? Didn't she see that they were a family in first unit? Maybe it wasn't just them. Natsu had noticed her guarded expression through the past week, even when she was speaking to Laxus. It seemed odd. He knew he shouldn't pry but, he promised himself that he would break down that shell.

"How about we stop and get some coffee? It's going to be a long night." She nodded and he pulled up beside a small overnight café. For now he wouldn't push her, they still weren't too close yet but he was determined to find out just why she detached herself from everyone.

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 ** _'-Just animals that can't be tamed, we're all just savages.'_**

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 **Shattered-Nightmares 712: The plot has started developing more! I will probably update Still Breathing or Hell's Gate after this so watch for that! Who do you think the bomber is? They have a few suspects but are they right? Or are they not? What do you think Natsu's dream was about? That will be explained later on but not for a while so you will have to wait for that! Thank you so much for reading and for those of you who review, a special thanks from me!** **  
** **Until next time!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	6. Chapter 5: Evidence left behind

**Hey everybody!**

 **We are back for another chapter!**

 **This is a really short update but I hope you don't mind too much!**

 **I've gotten pretty busy with school,**

 **we just had the literacy test and I literally didn't finish one of my short**

 **answer questions and now I'm worried.**

 **All in all my writing was very bad on that test so yay for me!**

 **Anyway sorry again for the delay in my updates.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 ** _'Never know who you can trust, how far hate is from love-'_**

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 **Chapter 5: Evidence left behind**

 **~QOoOQ~**

 _"Natsu?"_ Gildarts' voice came through his cell phone, "we need you and Lucy down here now." Natsu frowned and shut his eyes tightly, the sun was just beginning to rise and he hated the light early in the morning. He glanced to the side as Gildarts spoke to him, checking on his partner as she slept.

"What do you need us for?"

"There was another bombing."

Natsu tensed, "Where?" After Gildarts gave him a brief explanation of what was happening they hung up and Natsu turned to Lucy, using one arm to wake her up as he started the engine. "Luce, you need to wake up, the perp bombed another building." She seemed to jolt awake at his words and looked at him curiously, her brown eyes not fully focused on anything as she yawned tiredly, this was the most defenseless she's looked since she came to first unit. "You know, you look a lot cuter when you aren't as aware of your surroundings."

"Shut up," she grumbled, sluggishly pulling herself up in her seat with a grimace. "I feel gross, I want a shower." He guessed she as more than a little affected by the heat, although he couldn't really disagree-he would have liked to freshen up a bit too before they went back to headquarters. "Anyway, what's going on?"

"There was another bombing at _Oscar's Art Store_ , Gildarts sent out Erza and Gray when a threat letter was received at 7:21 AM but they didn't get there in time." He flicked the sirens on and stepped on the gas, following the coordinates Gildarts had sent him. "Apparently there were some eye-witness accounts that claim to have seen a suspicious male lurking around the abandoned hotel near the store."

"Where there any injured?"

"Not that I know of," Natsu shook his head, sharply turning a corner on a red light. "The owner of the store had followed instructions from the bomb squad and put a safe amount of distance between himself and his store, although we don't know if there was anyone near the building when the explosion occurred."

"And you think this is linked to our last case?"

"I'm assuming so, there is the possibility that another person could have made a bomb but I have doubts." Natsu sighed, "There were similar aspects to this bombing just like the last although no hostages were held there was still a letter sent to the building. Forensics should have the details soon, if it's our perp than we know that the zoo incident wasn't just a onetime thing."

"We'll have a serial-bomber."

"That's right," Natsu nodded. "It's likely that our suspect used the same method as last time, a pipe bomb."

"It's more than likely that the suspect was an arsonist at one point then." Lucy folded her arms over her chest, "Most criminals don't just suddenly jump into bombing things, they usually start from someone who's familiar with starting fires and chemical products, things like that."

"Although that's not the only option." Natsu reminded.

"No, of course not," Lucy nodded, "It could be a group organization motivated by religious beliefs or an act of revenge." She looked out the window, "Suicide bombing is out of the question if this is the same suspect…"

"Okay, however there's little information about who this is." Natsu glanced at her, "There's the eye-witnesses who saw a male in the area acting suspicious but was he part of an organization and was hired? Or is this based off his own motives?"

"Well it certainly doesn't seem like an organized crime," Lucy pondered, "Based off the last bombing that took place, it seemed quite disorganized to me considering he had really portrayed much of a message last time…"

"What do you mean?"

Lucy looked at him, "I mean that most times the person will state what they want and although he had asked for a ransom it didn't seem to be his motive. Why go through the trouble of planting so many bombs in a zoo and holding so many hostages when he could take a child of a wealthy aristocrat or business man and hold them hostage for ransom."

"Yeah, it doesn't make much sense now that you say it." Natsu nodded his head, "the ransom money wasn't guaranteed when we came to the zoo but had he taken a child or a spouse to a wealthy person the money is most likely to be given to them."

"However, if it's not an organized crime motivated by money then what the hell could this person want?"

"Well we don't know who this is, right?" Lucy nodded and he continued, "Well his motive could be revenge or there could be something physiologically wrong with the person behind these bombings."

"All things considered, these crimes don't seem very well organized- and there isn't a clear motive behind them." She sighed, "If it's revenge he wants then who is his target? People in general? It can't be a hate crime considering the many different people at the zoo, every one of different religions and races were there and I doubt that they would do it against people they are sided with. So then who would be the target of their revenge and just what did they do?"

Natsu didn't answer, either way the reason behind the crime didn't seem like it would be justified-not that taking any life can be justified but he doubted there would be any sympathy that came with the suspects confession and motives.

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"Laxus!" Natsu called out immediately after they arrived at the scene and the elder male turned to him and his partner. "What's the situation?"

"The perimeter of the hotel has been secured along with the crime scene, if the suspects still in the building there's a low chance that he would escape without being caught." He handed Lucy and Natsu a vest and some ammunition. "We aren't sure whether the suspect is in the building or even armed so the bomb squad and Mystogan will be accompanying the both of you while the rest of us check for any evidence of who this guy is."

"Do you know if it's the same person as last time?" Laxus shrugged,

"McGarden is almost positive that were looking at the same guy as the last bombing crime but she wants to get Jellal's and Erik's opinion on the matter, just in case." Lucy nodded and finished strapping her vest on. "You guys be careful in there, you hear me? If you think you're in danger I want you both out of that building-I'm not going to let you guys send yourself on a suicide mission." He nodded towards the abandoned building and sighed, "Alright, go on, everyone's waiting for you."

"Right." Lucy and Natsu quickly joined Mystogan and the bomb squad at the front entrance of the building and immediately got into position, guns raised and guards up. Mystogan looked at them and made a sign to tell them to go forward and silently turned his steely gaze forward as he followed behind them. Lucy kept herself aware of her surroundings and tried to hear anything other than the shuffling coming from behind them. It seemed eerily quiet but it was to be expected that the suspect wouldn't make his presence very well known.

They did a thorough sweep of each floor, checking behind furniture for anything out of the ordinary and old papers left on desk and shelves. It didn't seem anything had been touched in a long while considering how much dust had built up on everything, although Natsu paused when he saw one of the doors to the third floor open a crack. He glanced over at his friends and whistled to get their attention. He gestured toward the door and carefully checked for any signs of someone being in the room as they quietly walked up to him.

Natsu opened the door and waved his weapon around with practiced movements and slowly walked into the room, not allowing his guard to go down until he was sure there was no one in the building. "This rooms clear," he told the bomb squad, "I want to look in here a bit more thought, it looks like some things have been moved and the window is open-go check upstairs for anyone." They nodded and left Mystogan, Lucy and himself to check around the room.

"Natsu," Mystogan's quiet voice sounded loud in the quiet room, "there's a map here." He walked over toward his friend, glancing at Lucy as she radioed for a forensics worker to come up and collect evidence. His eyes skimmed over the map, large letters placed in different place on the map-two of which being crossed out. "He's crossed out the zoo and Oscar's place; it seems like these other places are his targets."

He nodded, "we should take this back to first unit with us-do you think you could take a look at it when we get back?" Mystogan nodded as a few forensics investigators began to walk around the room, dusting for fingerprints and checking for any DNA left behind by the suspect. "Luce, come on, let's head back now-we've got something to look at when we get back to first unit." She nodded mutely, a hard look on her face as she glanced at the map he carried in his arms.

"I'll be there in a bit, I need to stop by the hospital and check on the twins you saved from the zoo bombing." And with that, she left.

 ** _…_**

"Ms. Lucy!" She smiled slightly when she heard the two familiar voices of the twins as they scurried towards her. It had been awhile since she last visited them, a week at most and one of the three visits she had provided was for questioning. She felt a little guilty for not coming sooner, seeing their bandages wrapped around their bodies but large smile son their faces made her heart ache.

"How are you both doing?"

"Good!" Gem responded, he move his leg a little to show her his improvement. "The nice man said I can go home soon!" Lucy laughed and nodded,

"Wow, you're very strong Gem-I think that I would still be really sore after that bad of an accident." He smiled with pride at her words and she turned to Mini, "And how is your chest doing Mini?"

"Okay," She breathed-Lucy could still hear a bit of an odd sound coming from her as she took in small breaths, it didn't sound as loud or nearly as painful as it did during her last visit, "It doesn't hurt anymore, I got magic from the doctor to help make me feel better."

"That must be some really good magic." Lucy smiled and glanced at the social worker in the room who had been staying with the two since the accident, she was a social worker with child services who was sent to watch over the twins until they had a secure home. She signaled to Lucy with a gesture of her hand if they could step outside and she nodded, "Well I'm going to be right back, I'm going to speak with Ms. Karen for a minute- why don't the two of you pick out a game you want to play and when we're done I'll come back and play with you for a little?"

"Yay!"

She smiled as they ran back to their beds and quietly walked out with the social worker into the hall, "So, how are they doing?"

"Mini is doing okay, still a little frightened by her own shadow but that is to be expected after what happened." Lucy nodded at the woman's words-any child would be traumatized by the explosion, they lost their only remaining parent in the explosion and almost lost each other in the midsts of it. Just the thought of losing one of her brothers or even her father-no matter how much she thought she despised him- was devastating. "Although Gem, he's been having night terrors since the incident-Mini says that Gem has been acting different- a little too cheery for what he would usually be like."

"Well what do you mean?"

"Gem was always one of those little boys who, although acted very brave around people, liked to be quiet and sit alone to read a book or something." Ms. Karen explained, "Mini was usually the one who was more outgoing, loved to be surrounded by people and yet now her brother is acting as she usually would have, an extrovert."

"So Gem is basically putting up a brave front?"

"Yes, it's evident by the lack of sleep he gets because he is so terrified of falling asleep and getting a night terror but he will not say anything to anyone about it, just carries on and acts really brave." Lucy could understand trying to act tough and keep things to yourself-she does that on a daily bases but she didn't like the idea of Gem doing it at such a young age. She knows he and Mini will never be the same considering what they have been through but she also didn't want Gem to grow up being like her. "That's not all though…"

"What's wrong?"

"Their Grandmother is not fit to take care for them so I fear they may have to go through foster care until they get adopted…" She sighed, "Their grandmother is quite ill and can barely walk, she cannot take care of two young children, especially if they are both dealing with mental trauma form the incident." Lucy bit her lip at the news, it was one devastating fact after another-first their remaining parent dies, then they are stuck in a hospital where they have to deal with their horrific memories of the explosion and now they may have to go into foster care.

She thought a moment, "Ms. Karen, do you think I would be able to foster them for a little while until I can find someone more suited for taking care of them?"

"Ms. Lucy, I do not think that would be a good idea-"

"My mother was killed by someone, I've had to live with the sight of her dead body for years, I think I can help them a bit with their problems…" She looked through the window of the door as the twins excitedly spoke to each other and giggled as they started playing a game, "Besides, I know someone who may be able to take them in once they are a little more stable, if possible I would like to watch over them until then."

Ms. Karen hesitated, "Ms. Lucy, you do know this will not be easy, two children who were involved in a horrible crime will be hard to deal with especially with your profession," she sighed, "With all due respect to you past, I'm unsure of how this would turn out."

"That's why I want to be there for them," Lucy insisted, "I've experienced the loss of a parent in a brutal way and have been close to death many times because of my profession-my line of work is not easy and I will not always be able to come home for them but when I am I can help them and when I am not, the people I know can start getting to know them and get comfortable."

"I suppose," she agreed, "…Are you sure you can take care of them even with your line of work."

"I'm not saying it will be easy-because it won't but I want to try and give these to something I didn't have, someone who could relate to me and help me get through the memories." Lucy smiled, "And I don't like the idea of them going to some strangers house while they are like this, they know me and I think they are comfortable around me enough that they won't mind staying with me, I'll take a few days off to get them settled and get used to things before I go back to work."

"Will it not be dangerous?"

"It will be dangerous either way," Lucy glanced at her, "The bomber was within that building and even then we don't know if he's just doing this because or if he will later on come back for the ones who were not killed. The twins are in danger either way and at least with me they will have some protection."

"And what of your friend?" She questioned, "if your friend agrees to take care of Gem and Mini, do they know of the dangers and can they prevent any harm from coming to them?'

"His girlfriend is a scientist and he was a former bodyguard-now running a shop, they are both well prepared to keep people safe." Ms. Karen stared at her for another moment before sighing,

"I will put in a request for you, I'm sure there will be questions for you to answer but I think that it is most likely you will be able to watch over them." Lucy nodded, she damn well hoped she was approved to watch over them-she knows there will be doubts that come with her line of work, whether she will have enough I'm for them or provide stable life for the two. If she was being honest, she wasn't sure, no her hours would not always work out and there very well is the possibility that someone may give them a visit but she was capable of providing them protection and help them through their loss.

Although, Lucy was a little terrified. Sure, she had nieces and nephews but she had never taken care of them for longer than a few days- to think she would be acting as a foster mother for two young children was scary, could she be there for them, make them feel safe, make them comfortable enough to actually open up to her? Maybe not but she wasn't going to simply abandon them and allow them to go to a strangers house. She felt better knowing they were with her and Lucy promised herself that she would protect the two while they were under her care the moment she saw the look of trust and love in their eyes when she told them they were going to be with her.

Lucy herself would not learn how to trust another person with her life until the case suddenly took a crippling turn in an unsightly way that would force her to go against all the promises she had made to herself all those years ago. For once since her mother died she would have to learn to trust another person completely and succumb to the painful desires she carries deep within her. And maybe, just be killed as result of her own mind.

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 ** _'Turn on you before you turn on us, were all just savages.'_**

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 **ALaViola: Hey guys, sorry this took so long for me to update and that it's so short. I've been a little stuck on this part lately but the next few chapters I've already got planned out so this was just the one I was struggling with. Hopefully this wasn't too boring for you, the next chapter will be more exciting, I promise! Thank you guys for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	7. Chapter 7: Hello Fear

**Hey everybody!**

 **We are back for another chapter!**

 **I will apologize in advance,**

 **This chapter is quite short and very poor quality**

 **And I really hope it isn't too bad that you dislike it!**

 **I'm am quite overwhelmed by school, dance and I'm also taking**

 **Japanese classes so you can imagine it's a bit hard to find time to write when**

 **I'm always coming home and passing out.**

 **Anyway sorry again for the delay in my updates.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 ** _'_** ** _Never know who you can trust, how far hate is from love-'_**

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 **Chapter 5: Hello Fear**

 **~QOoOQ~**

Lucy smiled lightly at the sleeping forms of the twins, they were so adorable. It had been a two weeks since Lucy decided to watch over Gem and Mini, Ms. Karen, as promised, had spoken to her superiors about the twins case and since they were special case, an immediate response was given. She had been turned down. They reasoned that the children needed a provider who had a regular schedule and could come home to them easily. A detective could not do either nor did they have normal hours.

Although, Ms. Karen brought up the proposition of just caring for the children for a little while, and having her friends get comfortable around them before handing them over and when they again, said no, she brought up the possible danger Gem and Mini were in. Ms. Karen's superiors had hesitated at that fact, it seemed they hadn't considered them to be targeted and after much debate, they reluctantly allowed Lucy to watch over the twins under the rule that Ms. Karen visit frequently to check up on the children. Lucy had no objections, the woman was tolerable and she liked Gem and Mini enough to do that for them.

It had been three days since the twins were discharged from the hospital and three days since they settled into her home.

Erik walked into the first unit headquarters a few hours later and nodded at his brother and sister before placing a file on the large table in the center of theorem. "Results came back from the lab on the fingerprints collected at the hotel and the crime scene. The bomb is the same as the last, another basic pipe bomb." Erik opened the file and held up a photo of a young blonde male, with dark and pointed eyes. "Fingerprints were compared to ones stored away in our criminal database and we found a match."

"A previous criminal?"

Erik nodded at Erza, "His name is Jackal Heat, he was previously convicted under arsonist charges and domestic abuse against his previous girlfriend, Seilah Moon who was also a convicted criminal charged with substance abuse and illegal dealing under the black market." He moved on, "Jackal was released a year ago on good behavior and parole but has had frequent visits to the hospital since his release-it's been revealed that Jackal has a psychiatric problem from past traumas."

"Like what?"

"He refused t give a straight answer but the assumption is a problem with his family from when he was younger."

Lucy paused a moment, "Is there any information on his family?"

"The father's identity isn't known but his mother was a former drug-addicted; her names Sakura Heat, age thirty-nine and has one other child-a daughter, Maria." Erik pulled out another photo of a young girl who looked similar to Jackal, a bright smile on her face and heavy dimples on her cheeks. "She's seven years old and her father is Shusuke Akizuki. Her parents are not married but are living together."

"Is there any chance that she would be willing to be questioned?" Mystogan asked, staring at the photo of Seilah.

Erik shook his head, "I doubt you'll get a word out of her, she despises the police."

"Any reasons as to why?" Natsu asks, staring at the photo of Seilah; she's a pretty woman, there was no doubt of that but it was the slightly cold look in her eye that told a different story.

"She refused to say," Erik answered. "I can't really tell you much; Laxus could provide a bit more information than I can, considering he was shadowing the person who dealt with this case."

"Would I still be able to attempt to obtain information from her?"

"You could try," Erik nodded, handing her the profile of Seliah. "I don't want you going alone however; Seliah may not have an alarming criminal record but we don't know how violent she can get with a cop if they insist on speaking with her."

"She wasn't going to be going alone anyway," Natsu told him; draping an arm around his partners' shoulders as she read through the profile (he was secretly glad that she hadn't attempted to push him away.) "Partners are supposed to protect each other, and that is what I will do."

"Anyway," Laxus interrupted, effectively diverting Erik's glare from Natsu and onto the table in front of them. "We've been trying to figure out what the hell Jackal has planned with this map-still can't believe he was so reckless as to leave this behind." Lucy snorted lightly and shook her head, switching her focus on the map she allowed her partners arm to fall from her shoulders to her back as she leaned forward to observe the map.

"It seems he only has twelve bombings planned; two of which he has already been successful with, that being The local Zoo and Oscar's Art Store, He has those two places labeled on their location with Z and O." Gray pointed two the two spots crossed off with re marker and then shifted to the other letters surrounding them. "There are ten more letters _, k,d,I,c,I,l,e,r,l_ and _a_ over locations we can presume to be his next targets however it's the order of which he is going to start in that we're unsure."

"Thank you for that _Captain Obvious."_

"I think he is trying to spell out something," Erza observed. "An accomplice perhaps? Or maybe a message? I doubt he is doing this just for fun if he has a layout of what he was doing; usually crimes that are purely done for the enjoyment are sporadic."

"If I could perhaps interrupt," Levy looked down at the map, "There aren't many words that begin with the letters Z and O, the map most likely spells out two separate words as well considering the amount of letters there are and limited vocabulary starting with Z." She sighed in frustration, licking her lips and desperately trying to articulate her thoughts. "Jackal said something about _sins_ did he not? So if his crime is not only related to whatever he is trying to communicate through this map, but also in his words, why would he want to kill people by bombing them?"

"Sinning," Mystogan mumbled, briefly glancing at the map. "He's trying to eradicate humans by burning them and their sins."

"Exactly," Levy snapped her fingers.

"But he cannot kill everyone in the world, that's near impossible." Laxus observed.

"Yes, and I'm sure Jackal knows this, however the influence he has on people-bringing fourth fear from them by murdering countless people may-in his thoughts- try and rid themselves of their sinful ways."

"So he's trying to influence people to be like he wants them."

Levy nodded, "But if you think about it, Jackal may be trying to spell out a higher being-or what he thinks to be a holy being."

"What do you mean?" Gray looked at her, nothing was making sense in the way of her thinking but perhaps that was just what they needed. "Something like a God or deity?"

"That's what I'm thinking," she nodded. "Obviously it isn't the actually being that he is speaking about, but a human posing to be one or one holding his head higher than one."

"You mean, thinking they're better than a god?" Natsu laughed, "That is ridiculous."

"Perhaps to you but to Jackal, not so much." Levy continued, "I don't know of any Gods or deities with a Z at the beginning of their name other than Zeus but he doesn't have an O."

"Lucy? Do you know of any other than Zeus?"

Lucy shook her head at her brother, "There are a few more, in terms of Greek mythology, however the next letter in their names each start with an E not an O."

Levy nodded, "There aren't any names correlating with Z and O but there is a title of a group with those same two letters." She traces a line with a black marker from each letter, "The zodiac. We usually hear of them as the constellations however they have their back stories in Greek Mythology, all of which did an act worthy of having them placed in the sky to be remembered. The Zodiac were all holy beings, and never committed a sin."

"If what you said about there being an accomplice is true and that Jackal may believe they are of greater importance than the zodiac then the next word actually quite easy to decipher." Mystogan said before taking a blue marker and connecting the remaining letters together. "Zodiac Killer would be the final results."

Natsu glanced down at his partner when he felt her tense beneath his arm, her face had gone pale and her pupils had dilated to accommodate the wideness of her eyes. "Levy are you sure that's what this says?" Laxus asked suddenly, glancing at his sister from time to time.

She nodded, 'Almost a hundred percent, it makes sense as well. The Zodiac Killer made himself a name a few years back when he attacked a single mother and her daughter at home, effectively killing the mother and leaving the daughter just barely alive. He had burned part of the house and escaped before police could arrive but he hadn't left enough evidence behind to track him down properly. It seems he's making a comeback now."

"Mavis that's terrible," Erza gasped. "I couldn't imagine what that little girl must have gone through. Do we have any information about her? She could help us catch him."

"No, there wasn't much information from that file-it's been years so some things could have been misplaced over time."

It was almost laughable at how shaken she was over such a small discovery and she silently reprimanded herself for not being more professional about the whole situation. A terrible feeling was taking over her and she felt sick to her stomach. Her head was aching and the marks on her back that had long since healed were beginning to burn. She was paranoid; Lucy knew however she couldn't calm the rising fear that was building with her.

She found it ironic how just a title could put so much fear into her and yet being at the hands of a criminal with a bomb held little to no affect on her. She was still so weak. "Luce, are you okay?" She was a liar. Natsu continued to look at her for a moment before staring at their co-workers surrounding the table in the middle of the room, "You look sick."

Perhaps she did, she wouldn't doubt that her skin had turned a sickly color. "I'm just a little tired." She was, mentally-at least.

"How about a coffee?" Natsu glanced at her, "I'll buy." He seemed worried, she couldn't fathom why he would be worried about a person he barely knew but that was their job really, to worry about the well-being of civilians that they had no connection with. Perhaps he was just viewing her as another person who needed saving. She didn't need it.

"I'll take you up on that offer." Anything to get out of the suffocating room. Natsu appeared pleased when she agreed, gently taking her hand to pull her out of the room.

"Seeing as I don't know much about you-" Natsu started once he released her hand and slowed his pace to walk beside her, "-would you mind telling me a few things about yourself?" Lucy glanced at him; did he not already know she disliked sharing personal information?

"What need is there for you to know more about me?" She asked instead and he shrugged while she looked away and focused on the pedestrians surrounding them as they walked, "You only need to know my capabilities when working and the pace at which I like to work."

"However I do not know all those things," He pointed out to her, letting out a little laugh when she made a noise of disapproval. "Also, it's better to get a better relationship with your partner to improve our work performance while we work on cases together." Another reason why she preferred to work as a solo detective, having to form unnecessary relationships.

"Well then that means I will have to learn unnecessary things about you as well," She observed lamely and he nodded, bumping his arm into her own playfully.

"How about you start by telling me things you like and dislike," Natsu suggested simply, "I already know your name and the preference you have for it along with your family-Laxus and Cobra." She was appreciated him leaving out her father.

"Well I love reading," she started awkwardly. An odd feeling it was to be sharing things about her that she usually didn't talk about with anyone. "I actually would like to write a book one day."

"Why don't you?" He asked with a smile, "I'm sure you would be a great author."

"I doubt anyone would read it," she told him with a small laugh, as terrible as it sounded she really did believe that, "besides I'm not any good,"

"I would read it." He told her, a bright grin on his face, "And I'm sure you are an amazing writer Lucy, you just need to believe it yourself." She shrugged and looked away. "Anything else you like?'

"I'm interested in astronomy," she told him, her arms coming to circle behind her back as she straightened herself a little more. "I had actually considered a career in it for awhile before I decided to become a detective."

"You find this job to be your calling?"

"You could sort of say that." She thought a moment, trying to think of what else she could tell him, perhaps she could move on to things she disliked-he didn't need to know everything she liked. "It annoys me when people where their shoes in the house."

"Thank you!" He shouted in exasperating, "Someone gets it!"

"So I'm not the only one."

"No, quite frankly I don't see why you would want to wear shoes inside the house when they've been worn outside already, tracks in bacteria." Lucy nodded in agreement, because it did, excluding the visible marks shoes could leave on the floor form dirt, whatever was on the ground could bring in some nasty pathogens. "Like, what if you stepped in some dog shit-washing it off with the house isn't gonna clean them properly and then you wear them in the house-" She laughed when he gagged at his own thought.

"My brother could care less about all that," she admitted honestly. "Whenever he comes over, he claims to forget that he is wearing his shoes and strolls right through my clean living room!" Natsu made of face of mocked horror and play a hand over his mouth.

"I'm shocked," He looked to her, "I always thought Cobra to be a germaphobe."

"He is," Lucy laughed. "I was talking about Laxus." He paused at her words and gave her an inquisitive look.

"Wait, really?" When she nodded he blinked and turned to look back in front of him, walking with her when the lights changed and allowed them to walk across the street. "Wow, I'm disappointed in Sparky." She snorted at the nickname but nodded anyway. Oddly enough, as they continued to talk about themselves, Lucy found his small comments and genuine interest in her endearing and slightly less annoying than what he had been.

"Hey Luce?" He called, breaking the silence as they stood in line, waiting for their drinks. Lucy hummed to let him know she was listening. "Would you mind telling me why you looked so scared in first unit before we left?" He asked before rushing to assure her, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want, I'm just worried."

"But why?" She couldn't see a reason for his worry when they barely knew each other, sure they had been trying to create some sort of relationship to improve their partnership however she couldn't understand why he was so concerned with her. "You barely know me, we've been partners for only a month and you are only learning about me now. Why are you so worried about me?'

"Well isn't it natural to be worried about a friend?" He asked, "I realize we aren't close enough to casually start up a conversation that doesn't involve work nor are we close enough to go out for lunch or something during our breaks however you are a part of first unit now, Luce."

"What does that have to do with this."

"First unit is a family," he explained with a rather proud smile. "Now that you are in first unit, you've become a part of that family. We may be a little annoying at times and argue frequently-" she snorted. "-but we all care for each other."

"What about you and Gray?"

"Nah, that ice-bastard can go, he's on his own." She laughed but despite his words, Lucy could tell that he did care a bit for his "rival". "My point is that, I don't like seeing my family upset so I want to see f there is anything I can do to help." She felt a little odd hearing him call her family, her chest felt warm all of a sudden and maybe it was because she had just taken a sip of her freshly made coffee or maybe it was the way Natsu so passionately talked about people he considered to be his family. She wished her father was like that, valuing his family over everything.

"I don't think you can really help Natsu." She smiled despite herself, "but I will thank you for worrying about me, you don't need to thought, I'm capable of taking care of myself." She was stubborn and didn't like help and she wasn't quite willing to become much closer with her partner despite his eagerness to become close with her. She wasn't sure what to think just yet, this man-child was giving her whiplash with the way he could change her opinion on him so quickly.

"I might." He told her, "You won't know until you try."

"I think this one doesn't need to be attempted for me to know Natsu," it didn't, because she knew that he wouldn't be able to help her. This was something beyond him. "Anyway, you were telling me about your brother…"

"Oh yeah, Zeref, he is a little… different-"

 ** _…_**

There was an orange burn where the sun had been by the time they had finished their reports. They had decided working late would be a better option than picking up again tomorrow which is why there are now multiple empty cups of coffee from the Café down the street. Lucy hadn't gotten much done over the few hours since she got back, she was grateful Natsu had been able to calm her nerves slightly with his friendly attitude however once they stepped back into First Unit Lucy's stomach had begun to turn once again and her headache had returned. Her brother understood and helped her occasionally when he could but her focus was solely on the sky outside, reminding her of the burning flames her house had been.

This was what she wanted though. She wanted him to come back, to appear before her so she could arrest him herself because the police had failed to do so when she was a child. She wanted him thrown into solitude so he couldn't harm anyone and she wanted to be able to proudly stand in front of her mother's grave with the knowledge that she had caught her murderer. However, if she wanted all of this, why was she so afraid?

She was dizzy and nauseous and Lucy was finding it difficult to speak with the fear clawing at her throat, so she mainly kept to herself while she listens to the others and the occasional exception when she would assure her brother and Natsu that she was fine. They were forming a plan on how they were going to prevent further casualties with Jackal's bombing, analyzing the previous incidents over and over to predict the time he may attempt it.

Natsu was sitting beside her at a desk a little further from the rest, she was ordered to answer any calls First Unit got-apparently Guildarts thinks she needed a break and he needed to be a little more attentive and helpful with the situation so he switched with her. She didn't mind too much however, Natsu was helping keep her calm by sitting close to her, not saying much but just occasionally nudging her in concern and throwing a few insults at Gray.

He had quieted down mid-insult when the phone rang and just glared at Gray. Lucy sighed and gripped the receiver, "Hello this is Special Investigations First Unit how may I help." Lucy waited a moment, only hearing light breathing on the other end, "Hello?"

"So I was right."

"Excuse me?"

"So you're a detective now Lucy." She froze at the mention of her name, fingers curling around the phone and gripping it tighter. "It's been so long since I've last spoken to you." The low, melodious voice was giving her Goosebumps, harshly answering him back as she rubbed her arms, waving off her partners concern.

"Who is this?"

"I'm hurt Lucy," the man said, a breathy laugh following. "How could you forget me? We had such fun playing that game when you were little." Her eyes widened, finally recognizing the voice on the other end of the phone. Her breath hitched and her hands were shaking rather violently. "You remember me now? Of course you do how you could not is beyond my knowledge." She could fucking hear him grinning. "I've found you little dead body." The line went dead and the phone dropped from her hand with a resounding clatter that said more than the fear rising in her eyes.

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 ** _'_** ** _-Turn on you before you turn on us, were all just savages.'_**

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 **ALaViola: Sorry this took so long for me to update and that it's so short. I've been a little stuck on this part lately but the next few chapters I've already got planned out so this was just the one I was struggling with. Hopefully this wasn't too boring for you, the next chapter will be more exciting, I promise! Thank you guys for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	8. Chapter 6: I'm Scared

**I may re-write this chapter**

 **to make it go more smoothly, I'm a little disappointed with**

 **the ending so I may fix that before my next update.**

 **I apologize for my absence-my explanation is in the A/N at the end**

 **Short note-I changed everyone's age slightly**

 **Lucy is 22, Natsu and Gray are 25 and Erza and Jellal are 26,**

 **I felt their age more appropriate like this- even though they are still**

 **Quite young detectives.**

 **I left you guys on a little bit of a cliffhanger last time**

 **I love some of the responses and I'm happy you guys like this.**

 **Enjoy!**

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 ** _War, War, is what we need-'_**

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 **Chapter 6: I'm Scared**

 **~QOoOQ~**

There wasn't much Loke could say when Lucy came into his house in the late hours of the night with her paled face. He couldn't properly ask her what was wrong when she had finally settled down with him on the couch, with her head resting on his chest and his hands running through her hair. Loke hadn't a chance to fully comprehend what was going on before his friend had fallen asleep, curled next to him with a blanket wrapped around her small body. He was worried.

When he finally had time to sit and relax, after Lucy had cried herself to sleep, the first thing he had done was call Laxus. Loke reached into his friends pocket and took her phone, typing in the password (her mother's birthday) and dialed her brothers number. _"Oh My God! Lucy where the hell are you!? Why did you just leave-"_

"Laxus it's not Lucy." The line went silent a moment before he heard a sigh, _"Why do you have my sisters phone Leo."_ He scoffed quietly, eyes darting down to the sleeping beauty next to him, cheeks stained with tears and nose tinted red. "I figured you would be happy to hear that your baby sisters safe here with me." Laxus laughed, _"I don't consider her safe until she is at home, in her apartment. Now tell me where she is so I can come get her."_

"I don't know about that Laxus," Loke tucked a loose strand of hair behind Lucy's head as he spoke, "She's at my house with me, she's sleeping right now- but, Laxus, she came here crying."

 _"_ _She did? Do you know why?"_

"No, she fell asleep without talking to me; I was hoping you would know." Apparently he hadn't, Lucy had just suddenly left without telling anyone what was wrong. Laxus told him that her partner, which he found out to be Natsu, had said she answered a call for first unit; however, Natsu explained that he thinks the cause of her abrupt departure was because of it. _"It worries me, the way she reacted, Natsu said that he face completely drained of color."_

"I'm not sure, I'll try and ask her about it however if she doesn't wish to speak I'm not going to try and pry it out of her." He heard Laxus sigh on the other end, _"I understand, thank you Leo. I'll come and get her in the morning."_ Loke hung up and glanced down at the blonde sleeping on him, slightly worried about the stressed look she adorned in her sleep but otherwise said nothing and released a quiet breath of air.

"Leo?" The voice of his fiancé came from behind him, her light steps following soon after, "Is that Lucy-?" Aries looked at her husband's friend with a slight frown marring her gentle features-an expression he found never suited her beautiful face. "-Is she okay? Her face looks quite pale."

"I'm not sure, she came here in hysterics." Aries sat in the chair across from the two, eyeing Lucy warily, "Laxus said that it has something to do with her line of work-though we aren't sure what it involves." His fiancé said nothing, only staring at the young girl pressed against him. He reproached her gently, "You know you don't have to worry, right? We aren't in any danger."

"I'm just worried Leo-you were once apart of all this and seeing how badly Lucy is suffering even in her sleep-" She stopped herself and swallowed, Loke quietly listening to her worry. "-My God she's only twenty-two Leo, she should be making arrangements with friends or traveling-not crying herself to sleep out of fear for her life."

"You know she chose her career-and she's one of the best in her unit." He smiled slightly and stroked his friends hair, "As for me there is nothing to fret over Aries- I quit so we could have a peaceful life after marriage."

"I know, I know you did Leo but I cannot help but worry-" She stopped herself, her voice shaking as tears gathered in her eyes, " You had a lot of enemies- and Lord if anything were to happen to you-"

"C'mere," He beckoned her over to sit beside him, she was quick to move, her shoulders jerking as she quietly sobbed and he kissed her forehead, an arm wrapped around her for comfort. "You needn't worry Aries, no one is coming here-"

"But how can you know-how can you know for sure."

"I cannot, but Aries-please trust me." She said nothing but her crying ceased into quiet sniffles and he sighed. "You know I love you right?" And when she nodded he smiled and shook her slightly, "Go on up to bed-ill be up in a minute." He watched her go up the stairs before gently moving Lucy from his side and lying her down. Loke grabbed a nearby blanket and spread it across her small frame.

"Loke?" He paused, turned toward her and stared at her brown eyes. "I'm sorry for worrying you and showing up unexpectedly this late." He smiled wryly and sat on the edge of the couch beside her, grasping her hand in his own, flinch slightly at the coolness of it.

"You know I don't mind Lucy," she smiled at his words and looked slightly relieved-perhaps she had worried whether he was mad at her, though he could never be. "Did something happen, you were so panicked when you came here." She stayed silent. "Is there something you can't tell me?"

"Not necessarily," She hesitated, "The case is just developing quite quickly and I'm worried more people will get injured in the process as we take our time decoding the map." He didn't bother to ask about what she was referring to-he knew it was confidential.

"You're hiding something from me." He accused and she denied it quickly. "Lucy how long have I know you for? I know when you're keeping something from em and if it's something that is going to put your life in immediate danger I would like to know so I can help you."

"Loke you can't help me with this-It's far greater than the both of us," The exhaustion in her voice was beginning to show but he said nothing on the topic. "Besides, I'm not going to drag you back into this shit with me-I wouldn't do that Aries."

His face twisted with worry as he attempted to understand what she was telling him, "…Is the situation that bad that you can't tell anyone."

"I don't want anyone getting hurt Loke."

"And what about you huh!?" His tone rose and he was desperately trying to control his anger, "Do you think that your brothers or I want you to get hurt? And what about that partner you have? How do you think he would feel losing his co-worker?"

"Loke this is bigger than you," She repeated again, her voice becoming forceful, "You can't help me and I beg you not to do so anyway." He couldn't believe her-he understood where she was coming from (he would feel the same if he were still doing that line of work) however if this was as big as she was imply-she would need to rely on those around her. "Just go to sleep."

He sighed and nodded, giving her a quick hug and heading toward the stairs, "Don't think I've dropped this quite yet Lucy. We'll talk more in the morning." Lights went off and he left his friend in a deafening silence.

 ** _…_**

'Thank you for coming to get me Natsu," His partner spoke quietly, her voice weak and a hint of resignation hung within it. Natsu had to hold back a grimace; it was worrying to see his usually strong and guarded partner so drained as she was now. He swallowed thickly and nodded, he didn't know how to respond-he didn't know how to approach his partner while she was in such a vulnerable state of mind. "I mean it-I just didn't really know where to go."

"You couldn't go back to your apartment?"

"No, if I did I would have to speak with one of my brothers and I'm not willing to explain anything to them right about now."

"What about the twins you were taking care of?"

"I left them with Cana, my brother's wife, for a sleepover. I'm in no shape to take care of them at the moment." He nodded.

"Is there a reason you won't tell your brothers about that phone call?"

"Why do you assume it's the phone call?"

"Come on Luce, I may be oblivious to some things but I'm not an idiot-I saw the way you reacted to that call." They stopped at a red light and he turned to her. "Now is there a reason why you can't tell anyone about this?"

"…I don't want anyone I care about involved in this, Natsu." She sighed and leaned her head against the cool window of the car door. "This isn't some simple amateur criminal, this is someone much bigger than Jackal."

He began to drive again, one hand on the wheel and the other running through his hair. "Then why not tell me. You don't want anyone you care about getting hurt, right? So tell me."

"Natsu I can't."

"You can Lucy." He glanced over at her before boldly grabbing her hand and holding it within his own. She was shaking, terrified of what he was asking of her and he knew but he wouldn't let his partner deal with it on her own-especially if it was something more terrifying than jackal. He pulled into the driveway of his apartment and gently turned her face to his, eyes locking with one another. "I don't want you shouldering something like this on your own, Lucy, please tell me." When she didn't respond he added, "you can trust me Luce."

It wasn't until they both had walked through the door to Natsu's apartment did Lucy say a word more. She was shaking in her spot on the couch, and she looked about ready to dash out of the room but he crouched in front of her-holding both her hands in his and reassured her he was there. "I wasn't always like this-so stubborn and cold, even now it's really a bluff."

"I'm assuming you've heard rumors around HQ about me? About how my mother was murdered and I was left as a warning? They weren't lying, that's how it was." She laughed bitterly. "I even remember that damn song she would sing to me during thunderstorms to get me to sleep, I shouldn't have gone to bed that night but I did."

"I woke up a little while after falling asleep, the rain was still pouring down and it was dark out, I had heard noises downstairs-my mother's voice along with another mans, it wasn't uncommon for her to bring men home, we didn't have much money and she would sneak them in when she thought I was silent. I knew she did it-I may not have understood back then why so many men came and went but she was doing it for me."

Natsu squeezed her hands when she began to shake just a little bit more. He was listening and Lucy almost couldn't believe she was telling this man something that she never wanted to bring to light again. "I thought nothing of it but I went downstairs anyways, I'll save you the details of what I saw, my mother's body lay there in the kitchen with her blood painting the floor red. She had been baking my favorite cookies at the time too-" She laughed, her voice shaking as tears slid down her face. "I hadn't noticed the man standing so close to me while I wept by my mother's body."

"Oh my God, Lucy…"

'his voice-oh God his voice was horrifying, that laugh would haunt my dreams for years later. The sick bastard wanted to play a game. _'_ _It's all a game you see, do you know what freeze tag is little girl?'_ _I told his yes._ _'_ _Do you know why I play this game?'_ _I didn't-he explained that disappearance of the stars when sunrise approaches is why, the stars shouldn't be the only ones to disappear- he meant more so the constellations so the month that the constellation of whatever of the twelve Zodiacs were out-he would kill someone with that same sign. He called himself the Zodiac Killer."_

 _"_ _What in the actual fuck." Natsu now sat next to her, pulling Lucy's body closer to him until she was leaning against him. 'I ran from him and hid away in the basement, I was young and small so I could fit through the small spaces._ _'_ _I found you little dead body~'_ _He tore my shirt and pressed his blade to my skin. My God there was so much blood! It hurt so god damn much! But I wanted my nightmare to end, I prayed he had killed me and I could join my mother! But I was saved by police officers who were called by my neighbors for a noise complaint."_

 _His arms wound tighter around the shaking blonde in his arms, he hadn't known she had actually seen her mother's dead body nor the murderer himself, he couldn't have imagined-the way she became frantic when mentioning the blood chilled him to the bone. "Natsu…" Her voice was unstable and she seemed to curl more into him. "That phone call that I got-"_

 _"_ _Oh Lord no Lucy-"_

 _"_ _He's found me Natsu."_

 _"_ _Now she's falling down, down, down~"_

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 ** _'_** ** _-Steal your money and free our greed.'_**

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 **ALaViola: So firstly I would like to apologize for my extended absence, this semester  
I have university level biology and chemistry as well as AP English so I am overloaded with working-not including when I have dance practices. Along with the fact that I was sick for two weeks-which even caused me to miss 2 of my exams and have a broken blood vessel in my eye from throwing up so much (TMI but oh well). Not a very good excuse but mind you, I have been exhausted-I can barely stay awake when I get home from school and then I have homework and almost all of my classes every night.  
I really missed writing this story and Hell's Gate the most and berated myself  
when I didn't try to write anything for any of my stories it's quite late so I  
apologize if the chapter isn't well written and again I'm sorry for being gone for so long  
without writing an A/N about it, believe me it was not planned.  
Thank you so much for reading!**

 **Love it? Hate it? Review!**


	9. Yes Im Back

_**So Hey! Firstly I would like to apologize, i have not updated in forever and left you guys without any updates for months. Im so so so sorry for that. School took up most of my time as well as dance classes, I'm a month into summer at the moment however the first month was taken up by summer school-it sucks shit so study hard for whoever is in school!**_ **I am back** _ **, I'm currently writing a chapter for**_ **Still Breathing** **and Hells Gate** _**because those stories have gone the longest without an update so i am prioritizing those two at the moment (that doesn't mean that i will forget about my other stories however).**_

 _ **It was kind of sad going through my email and seeing just how many updates I've missed for FanFiction, I am soooo behind on everything on here and again I want to apologize for that, life got in the way. I have read each and every single one of your reviews and I would like to thank everyone who has left me one, you kept me thinking for my next updates! Thank you so much for that.**_

 **Expect an update soon Guys.**

 _ **Hope you all are doing well!**_

 _ **~ALaViola**_


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